Post by MARLENE MARISA MCKINNON on Jul 15, 2012 19:34:30 GMT
marlene marisa mckinnon
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full name: Marlene Marisa McKinnon
“Well, my full name is Marlene Marisa McKinnon. I don’t really give it a second thought, besides the fact it’s a damn mouthful. I guess my parents thought it would be funny, to give me a name that would take five million years to set straight. Charming people, my parents, absolutely delightful to be around.
Most of my friends call me Mare or Marley. The cheeky bastards in our year love to call me ‘Mare Bear’ or some other ridiculous variation. By all means, call me ‘Mare Bear.’ But you’re going to have a hell of a time getting yourself in right shape after I’m done with you. Fair warning.”
age: Sixteen
year: 6th
birthday: April 24th
blood line: Pureblood
“I’m as pure as they come. Oh no, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a prat about it; on the contrary, I think being a muggleborn would be bloody amazing! I mean think about it, how does one become a witch or wizard when both parents are muggles! Absolutely mental, but so so so interesting! My family is basically blood traitors, with my parents being so supportive of the order and such.”
occupation: N/A
former / house: Gryffindor
“In comparison to the rest of the world, I’m nothing incredibly special. My bone structure consists of a sharply angled face and high cheek bones. Apparently it’s a pureblood thing. I suppose marrying your cousins can have that effect on you. After a while, I really think we’re all going to look exactly alike and have three extra toes. But, anyway, I digress.
I assume I’m pretty enough, not exactly a veela but not a bloody troll either. I consider myself to be quite average looking, to be honest. My hair is deep chestnut brown and is a good six inches under my shoulders. I could really care less about it half the time. On the weekends I MIGHT make the effort to actually look presentable, but those chances are slim to none. You’ll most likely see my hair up in a knot during school…on the weekends…actually I’m bloody sure I wore it like that to a party once. Clearly I’m the type of person who has enough faith in humanity to hope people are going to love me for who I am, and not how much effort I spend on my hair. I can’t be bothered with any bangs, having anything on my face really just irritates me. I also heard a rumor that if you have bangs then hair will grow on your forehead, and I’d really just rather not have to deal with that.
Besides my knotty hair from hell, I have light brown eyes and very full eyelashes. If I could pinpoint my favorite part of myself, it would have to be my eyes. I don’t know why I like them so much – I just do. It’s like I can tell so much with one glance. I have a winning smile, if I do say so myself. You'll see every tooth in my mouth when I'm laughing, it's so obnoxious and embarrassing."
BUILD DESCRIPTION:
“I’m a pretty average height, just about 5’4 and definitely not growing. I haven’t grown at all since I was in about third year, when I seemed like a giant in comparison to every other girl. Now I’m a foot shorter than most guys in our year! I was definitely not blessed with the curse of curves, bloody disappointing really. I sort of have some curves from my waist to hips, but they’re just barely there. And my chest is on the smaller side of the spectrum, so really I’m just a genetic disaster when it comes to actually looking like a seventeen year old girl and not a thirteen year old. I’m quite lanky, with long, skinny legs and arms. I really have no idea why I’m so thin, seeing as I can out eat any quidditch player. Believe me…there was this one time in fifth year when this group of guys were boasting about how much they could eat. When I downed my dinner in thirty seconds flat, the blokes looked at me as if I had just devoured a unicorn in front of their faces, it was brilliant! I may be small, but I do love to eat.”
WAND:
“My wand and I have an interesting relationship. I’m helplessly neglectful and forget it all over the place. Believe me, there have been times when my folks and I have been half way to King’s Cross when we have to turn back and get my wand. Those make for lovely conversations over the dinner table. It never fails me though, no matter how many times I drop it…and throw it against things…and chuck it out the window. You get the point, it’s a love/hate relationship. It’s a fine piece of work, might I add. I was quite pleased when I got it. It’s rosewood, 9 inches with a dragon heartstring core. According to Ollivander, it’s excellent for transfiguration. Figure how I am absolutely awful at Transfiguration…”
PATRONUS:
When she conjures a patronus, it takes the form of a bear.
“Without a doubt, my happiest memory was when I finally reunited with my maternal grandmother after years of constant bickering between her and mum. It was really a surreal moment, having her hold me in her arms and cry. It was like nothing in the world mattered anymore, because everything was going to be okay. We were so close after that, she tried to make up for all the time we lost fighting each other. Hardly anyone knows about this, because I’m never really open about how much I really missed her. She would send me owls from time to time, but I had never been able to have talk to her face to face, or to tell her how much she meant to me. Mum was a little nervous about us meeting, because she thought all my expectations for my Gran would be left unmet. She was wrong, my grandmother was everything I expected and more.”
DEMENTOR:
“The time Gran and I had together was short, as she died of unknown causes in the winter a year after we came together again. It was the single most heartbreaking moment I have ever experienced. I always wondered if it was my fault, had I gone to her house a few hours earlier I would have been able to do something. We don’t even know how she died; I just found her ice cold on the floor of her living room. The ironic thing is, it wouldn’t have hurt this much if I hadn’t been able to see her again. If I had just been in correspondence with her, of course I would be exceedingly upset with her death, but it wouldn’t haunt me the way it does now. I still reread her letters sometimes, although I couldn’t even look at them when she first died. It all hurt too much, the fact that I had such little time her with before she was gone forever. Things were shaky between my mother and I after she passed, I blamed her for everything. I still do, but I can’t let her know that. Gran would want me to love my mother more than anything, more than she did.”
MIRROR OF ERISED:
“If I stood in front of the Mirror of Erised, I’d honestly just see myself with my Gran and mum. It sounds silly, but I always wonder would my life would be life if I either: a, never met my grandmother at all or b, always had her in my life. I guess everything happens for a reason, but I know I would never have the strength to get away from the reflection once I see myself with my Gran again. I would almost definitely be some sort of slave to that mirror. I also think I’d see myself as an Auror, or as an important figure in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. But, that all really doesn’t matter because the chances of me actually finding that mirror are one in a million. It’s nice to think about my deep desires and dreams, but I know that once I ever find that mirror, it would be really fucking difficult to get me to ever look away.”
BOGGART:
“We live in an old house, so boggarts are quite common. Dad usually takes care of them, but once my parents left me home alone while they went out with dad’s “work lot”. I heard something in the den and I had my hand on the cupboard door before I realized I had no idea what I was doing. The bloody thing turned into a clown! My sister thought it was quite hilarious, watching me trying to whack it with my wand. I was completely oblivious to the fact that there was a spell I could have used to take me out of my misery. Clowns, or anyone in disguise where I cannot see their face, really creep me out. It all started with my neighbor who jumped out from behind the begonia bushes wearing a clown costume in the middle of the night when I was trying to sneak out. It’s all gone downhill from there.”
AMORTENTIA:
Rain: “Living in England, the smell of rain is not that difficult to come by, but it is probably one of the sexiest scents on the face of the planet.”
Coffee: “I could drink fifteen gallons of coffee and be completely content with my life. The smell is enough to put me in a good mood.”
Cologne: “I take it back; rain is the second sexiest smell on the face of the planet. I don’t remember where I smelt it, but there was this one time I took a whiff of what can be considered the most amazing smelling cologne ever. It’s always the same cologne every time. I’m convinced that when and if I smell the cologne on a bloke I will marry him then and there.
TURN ONS:
A badass attitude
Intelligence “If you’re just going to sit there and just tell me how beautiful you think you are, we’re going to have an issue.”
Nice smile
Athletic “You don’t need to be the next seeker for Puddlemere United, but if you run out of breathe walking from the portrait hole to the couch, do not expect an owl from me.”
Good height “Tall blokes are usually my preference. Not saying you have to be a half giant, but a good bit of height is nice.”
TURN OFFS:
“Blokes who have the unnerving need to be assholes when they’re around you. That shit is not cute.”
Inflated heads
Getting smashed into oblivion every weekend. “I like to have fun like the next Gryffindor, but if you’re throwing up all over me I’ll escort you out the door.”
Conforming to what your friends think so you can look like a big man
Disrespect
STRENGTHS:
Defense Against the Dark Arts: “If there is one subject I totally dominate, it would have to be DADA. It’s not like other subjects, just memorizing spells and spitting them out. It’s about feeling the need to protect yourself and others from harm. And, of course, it’s about kicking ass.”
Comebacks: “You think I’m kidding, but I come up with the most biting comebacks in seconds. This quick thinking isn’t only limited to being a smart ass, but it also works in the classroom. I’ve gotten out of many a sticky situation with a few words. It bloody helps a hell of a lot when you’re trying to explain why you were shoving your wand in some Slythergit’s face.”
Loyalty: “Once we’re friends, it’ll take murder to get rid of me. I’d do anything for my friends and I trust they would do the same.”
Confidence: “I really don’t care what other people think of me, because I know I’m damn amazing. I have the best friends in the world and I while I may not have the perfect life, I make the most of what I have. I wouldn’t call myself arrogant, but I am confident in myself and in what I do.”
Trustworthy: “If you tell me a secret, believe that I will take it to the grave. I would spill my friend’s secret, that’s a promise. I feel like the highest degree of shame is to share a secret someone entrusted you with.”
WEAKNESSES:
Sarcasm: “I’m a sarcastic bitch 9 times out of 10. I don’t mean to be a snarky bitch, because half the time I’m really not. But it’s just part of my vocabulary. You ask me something; sometimes you’re going to get a sarcastic answer.”
Forgetful: “I have the worst memory known to mankind. I forget my shit all over the place, and it usually ends up being really important shit. Like, for example, my wand, homework, school books…the list goes on and on. “
Food: “I’m just slightly ridiculous when it comes to food. I honest to Merlin love food to a point where it cannot possibly be healthy. Hell, I just like to eat! Trying new food is always nice, but having the classics is better. Ask anyone who knows me, I’m obnoxious when it comes to eating.”
Getting my priorities straight: “I usually do pretty well without sitting in the library for five hours, but I suck so much at actually sitting down and studying. If there is something else going on that day, I will want to go. If there is a party in the Gryffindor Common Room, there is a huge chance I will ditch the books and hit the party. It’s an issue.”
Cursing: “I curse as much as the majority of the blokes in our year. My Gran would NOT be very happy with me, and I can just imagine the face she’d make if she heard me speaking on a day to day basis! But honestly, if I think something is fucking amazing, what better way to say it? If something is bullshit, I’m not going to say it’s rubbish, am I? That’s implying that it was worth putting in the bin for heaven’s sake!”
Potions: "I know people who are bad at Potions, and then there is me. Ol' Sluggy knows that if there is an explosion in the classroom, there is a 99.99% chance it came from my station. I have no idea how I managed to get an OWL in Potions, but all I know is that Lily is the only reason I don't have a T in the class. Ah, bless her. The things she deals with due to my poor Potion making skills.
HOBBIES/QUIRKS:
- Biting the inside of her cheek when she’s thinking
- Playing with her fingers when she’s nervous
- Snorting when something is really, really funny
- “Well, I like to sing on top of tables when I’m drunk…would that be considered a hobby?”
- Running her fingers through one specific section of her hair unconsciously
- Doodling in the margins of her parchment when she’s taking notes “And sometimes on tests… McGonagall was not pleased with the little illustration I drew of her in the corner of my exam.”
- Biting the tip of her quill during tests
- Talking really fast when she’s excited
LIKES:
My friends
Gryffindor
My sister (most of the time)
Having fun
Chocolate
Rain
Long talks
Proving people wrong
Making people laugh
Naps
Sunglasses
Parties
Walking around the castle at night
Being loud
Coffee
Watching Quidditch
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Standing up for my friends
Travelling
DISLIKES:
Stupid people with an opinion
Pureblood prats who think they’re better than everyone else
Lectures
Anything done unnecessarily slow or quiet
People who complain about everything
Death Eaters
Slytherins
Boys who are too into themselves
Ignorance
Being inside for too long
Crying, or watching my friends cry
Unnecessary assessments
Fighting with friends
Judgmental bastards
GENERAL PERSONALITY:
When you ask someone what they think when they hear the name “Marlene McKinnon,” chances are you are going to get a varied response. To a stranger, she’s that loud girl from Gryffindor who always has something to say. To Slytherins, she’s that blood traitor who stands up for ‘mudbloods’ like it’s her job. To the Gryffindor lot, she’s the life of the party who eats twice as much as the brawny quidditch players and who always has the last word in a discussion. Marlene is a very simple person, what you see is what you get. She isn’t concerned with hiding who she really is to please others or conform to the ideals others uphold. The layers of Marlene’s personality aren’t there to hide one another, instead they work together to form her personaity. Each person sees a different Marlene, but that isn’t because she’s different with different people – each person just catches her at a different moment.
Marlene certainly loves to talk, but she also loves to listen. When she’s with her friends, there is never a doubt that she listens to all of their problems. When they’re hurting, she hurts. Her friends mean more to her than anything. So when they ask for advice, Mare is sure to give them her best suggestions. For years she’s been telling Lily she should give James a chance, but her suggestions go ignored. Whenever they’re near James & Co, Marlene is sure to take James’ side (unless he is being insufferably annoying, then she backs Lily up.) She would never tell anyone anything Lily tells her, which would be like committing the worse crime. The sense of trust that she gets from her friends is something so sacred to her, breaking that trust was the worst possible thing anyone could do to her.
Without a doubt, Marlene is a blast at the Gryffindor parties. She’s not getting smashed every weekend, but she does know when to have fun and when to be serious. Drunken Marlene is possibly the single funniest human being in Hogwarts. There was this one time in the sixth year when she and Sirius serenaded the common room with the Hogwarts Song, singing at the top of their lungs. She’s the kind of person who would scream “NO, I LOVE YOU!” while she’s sloshed. This much fun and alcohol only happens during the big parties, usually after quidditch matches or during holiday. It’s all good fun, and most of her weekends are spent sleeping anyway.
In the classroom, Marlene is usually a joy – usually. She starts some of the most heated discussions and debates, often ending in the professor telling her to quiet down before points are deducted. Marlene is incredibly passionate about the things she believes in and will go to the ends of the earth to defend those beliefs. Ignorance and bigotry are two of the worst traits a person could have, as opposed to the popular pureblood opinion: having mudblood and being underprivileged. Being pureblood does not mean she agrees with the supremacist’s that believe they are above everyone else. That is total bollocks, considering some of the most talented students in Hogwarts were Muggleborn.
Although not completely apparent, Marlene is a hopeless romantic. She loves the whole idea of falling in love, but there just hasn’t been anyone she’s been really interested in. Of course, she’s had a couple boyfriends, but none of them were serious enough to be considered love. Hell, one of her ex-boyfriends literally just held her hand for a whopping three seconds before he broke out into a cold sweat. Ah, young love at its finest. But she was seventeen now! While it is hardly an age to get married, there is so much happening in the world now; it would be terrible for her to die without knowing what true love is really like. Dying young and not experiencing love is one of her true fears. Everything is chaos as of late and anything could happen to anyone.
Deep inside, where no one can see, Marlene is struggling in a battle between forgiveness and resent. It is really hard for her to be upset with her mother because in all honestly, she might have done exactly what her mum did. The time she lost with her Gran is time she now loses with her mum, because she has the hardest time to talking to her civilly. She wants to change that more than anything in the world, but it will take time.
Marlene is a multidimensional person who is straight foreword about everything she does. She doesn’t try to be who someone else wants her to be; instead she tries to be someone who doesn’t care what everyone else thinks. As long as she’s happy, everything would work out in the end.
GENERAL HISTORY:
Marlene McKinnon was born into a pureblood family on the 24th of April, 1960. As the first child of Ian and Abigail McKinnon, her birth was a great delight to the family. She was the little bundle of joy that they needed in their lives and she was everything they ever wanted. Unlike many other pureblood wizards, the McKinnons taught their daughter that every person is important – no matter their blood status. The idea seemed pretty logical to her, even at a young age, there was no reason to judge a person based on how much wizard blood was in them. It all seemed so silly to her. Overtime she would realize how this value would affect the way people looked at her family. That didn’t bother her; she never gave a rat’s ass what people thought about her.
Growing up, Marlene and her grandmother were very close and they would often spend every moment together. They sat under trees and read, sang silly songs and she listened to stories from Gran’s youth. The stories where very critical of muggleborns, and it was obvious that her grandmother had been raised in a very old fashion pureblood family. Marlene asked her mother about this one day after a long afternoon with Gran, and her mum was furious with her own mother. The fact she was planting these anti-muggleborn ideas in Marlene’s head frustrated her, even when Marlene tried to explain that she was in no way influenced by her grandmother’s beliefs. This led to constant bickering between her mum and Gran. The daily visits became less frequent, and after a while Gran simply stopped showing up. She would write, of course, but it was never the same again. Many a time Marlene would walk into the kitchen, only to see her mother crying over the most recent letter sent by her grandmother. For a long time, she wanted to hate Gran for putting everyone in so much pain. And for a long time she wanted to hate her mother for not trying hard enough to get Gran to come back.
When the attacks by Death Eaters became more prominent in society, Gran started to come around. There was always a little hope in each letter, each time she received a letter from her Grandmother she hoped and prayed that she was saying she would visit again. When the attacks were growing in scale, Gran finally came to them. She cried and held Marlene in her arms and told her she was so sorry for being a stupid old woman who couldn’t learn to appreciate new ideas and values. Abigail, however, was not as easy to convince. Marlene would beg her mother to forgive and forget, but she wouldn’t hear any of it. Marlene then made it a point to spend as much time with Gran as she could.
Sometime between the storm with Gran coming and going, Marlene exhibited her first signs of magical ability. One day, while she was frustrated with everyone and everything, Marlene ran into her room and slammed the door. In the split second that it took for the door to leave her hand and hit the frame, every single window in her room burst open and the lights flickered. That was enough to snap her out of her attitude and she went running to her dad, exclaiming that she finally did some magic. Everyone was so excited for her, especially her little sister who poked and prodded her, asking her to do it again. It wasn’t too long before she received her Hogwarts letter, and the hundreds of stories she had heard about the legendary school started to come to life.
Having been raised in a pureblood family, Marlene was no stranger to Diagon Alley. The trip before school was completely different to all others. Marlene and her sister ran through each store, searching for her books and getting poked with needles as she tried on her robes. Her parents took it upon themselves to stop at Eeylops Owl Emporium to get Marlene a little present. They came back with Gibbs, a tawny owl that would soon become part of the family. In a few years Marlene would learn that Gibbs was possibly the stupidest bird in the world, but she learned to love him for his obvious imperfections. With Gibbs’ cage in one hand and her trunk in another, Marlene casually walked through platform 9 ¾ . She was practically sprinting to the train by the time her parents got through, and they barely saw her off, spotting her head through the windows. She was gone, and the adventure of a lifetime was about to begin.
During the long holiday in her first year, Marlene went through one of the hardest experiences of her life. She walked into Gran’s house to find her ice cold and pulse less. A year after the reconciliation between her mother and her grandmother, Mare lost Gran forever. To see her lifeless body through her tears was haunting, and it still haunts Marlene sometimes. At first, it was easy to blame her mother for not taking care of Gran, and to be honest Marlene still resents her mother – just not as openly.
Marlene was quick to find good friends at Hogwarts, the first being Lily Evans. From the moment they greeted each other in the dormitories, she knew they would be best friends. Soon enough they were inseparable and soon enough they had James Potter on their asses. Mare actually found James hilarious and sincerely hoped Lily would give the bloke a chance. Sure he was a prat the majority of the time, but you could see that he really cared about Lily! That was her opinion anyway, not that Lily listened to her when she brought it up. Most of the time she just shushed her and changed the topic, but Marlene could see that sooner or later Lily would give in. Marlene promised to document the event. Lily was also one of the only people who knew how heartbroken Marley was after her grandmother’s death. They had more than a friendship, it was basically a sisterhood.
As adolescence took its toll on everyone, Marlene began to notice distinct changes in how she felt around guys. The scrawny boys shot up about five inches and their soprano voices dropped a couple of octaves. It quickly became obvious who the hot shots of Gryffindor house were – James Potter and Sirius Black. While James was all googly eyes over Lily, Sirius walked around with his own fan club. It was ridiculous, but Marlene couldn’t deny that he was absolutely gorgeous. You couldn’t get her to say that out loud though. First fill her up with a couple glasses of Firewhiskey, and then she might be more willing to talk.
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alias: Sharii
gender: female
rp sample:
“Miss McKinnon, dear girl, I tried reasoning with you but quite obviously you won’t have it. 10 points from Gryffindor for cheek, and I’ll see that you serve your detention with Mr. Filch.”
It was absurd, completely and utterly absurd to believe that Marlene was wasting her precious dinner time doing detention. That had to be illegal. They couldn’t starve her! It was absolutely barbaric. Marlene made her way down the corridor, taking her sweet damn time, infuriated at the outcome of the last few hours. Sarcasm doesn’t settle well with ol’ Sluggy, and after blowing up her third cauldron in the past week, it was obviously not the best time to subtly say that she was "on fire." Her words could hardly have gotten her a night’s worth of detention. It was an offhand comment that slipped her lips before she could take them back. Marlene grumbled to herself, barely watching were she was going and just paying attention to the symphony that was coming from her stomach. It was as if her internal organs had decided to conspire together to make her feel as empty and insufferably hungry as possible. Her lunch hour was spent in the library with Remus studying like mad for Transfiguration. When it seemed that she had finally begun to get the hang of “Ferraverto ”, the bell rung and lunch was over. A solid four hours without food later, Marlene was on the verge of munching on her wand in order to shut her stomach up.
The corridors were empty now, of course. Everyone had gone to eat, leaving Marlene to walk to Filch’s office alone. As much as Lily tried, it was impossible for her to convince Slughorn to relieve Marley of her detention. If Lily can’t get shit done, then it’s clearly impossible for anyone to. It wasn’t her fault she was so terrible at Potions, and her ambitions to be an Auror forced her to seclude herself to the library for days before the potions O.W.L. It wasn’t even this bad last term! But for some reason, it was utterly impossible for her to do anything right this week. It was just that type of week where everything that could have went wrong did. The transition from sixth year into seventh was rough, as professors warned about going into the real world where she would need to fend for herself. That was truer now than ever, with all the crazy rubbish that was going on. Marlene had thought about graduating for a while now, but it seemed then to loom dulling in the background. Now, it seemed that every day was passing faster than the last and it seemed now more than ever that the seventh years needed a wakeup call.
Marlene walked up to Filch’s office with as much enthusiasm as a dead puppy. This was going to be terrible, considering the fact Filch loves children like one would love a starving lion. She would have to bite her tongue to avoid having to come back every weekend for the rest of the year. It seemed like it would be all too easy to piss the bloke off enough for him to write her a nice slip for the entire year. She lifted her hand to knock on the door, but before she was close it opened. To her surprise, the man behind the door wasn’t Filch, it was Slughorn. “Ah, yes. Marlene, Mr. Filch was expecting you. However, he called me to cover this detention – seems someone has been wreaking havoc in the seventh floor corridor. Regardless, you’ll be organizing and recopying some files tonight. No magic. ” He said this in one breath, looking much like a stuffed pillow as he wobbled his way back to sit at the desk in the far corner of the room.
Flustered at the sight of one, the teacher who had assigned her the detention in the first place and two, the sheer magnitude of the tower of files, Marlene dropped her book bag to her feet and sat down. “Am I supposed to do this by myself?” She inquired, skeptically scanning the files. There could have been over a hundred files, each needing more care than the last. She hastily muttered, “sir” before turning to look at him, not wanting to get in anymore trouble.
“Mr. Filch tells me there will be another student who will be serving detention in here as well. He did not, however, tell me the name. We’ll have to find out together then, won’t we?” Marlene mumbled something unintelligible and opened the first file. Her stomach purred at her, reminding her of its current state. She rubbed it slightly, ignoring the look Slughorn was giving her. Great, now he thought she was incompetent and crazy.
Marlene wondered who she would be serving with, listing the possibilities in her head. She thought of the prospect of sorting through papers with James or Sirius and laughed slightly. Concealing her grin, she started to write. File one of one million…
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