MARLENE CHARACTER TASK
BASIC INFORMATION
Full Name: Marlene Alexandria McKinnon Pronunciation: Mahr-leen Al-eks-an-dree-ah Mih-kin-nin Meaning: Marlene / a blend of Maria and Magdalene, thus derived from Mary Magdalene of the New Testament. Maria/Mary and Magdalene mean star of the sea and of Magdala respectively. Reasoning: Going off Matthew’s name, alliteration, probably. Both purebloods, neither parent held to any Muggle religion, despite Matthew and Marlene both having Biblical origins. Nickname(s): Marls, Mar, Marly, Marsbar, Kinny, McKinny, Mars, McKinnon Preferred Name(s): Marlene, Mars, Marls (most nicknames are fine, at least from people she loves). Birth Date: 21st July, 1960. Age: 17 Zodiac: Cancer (it very much does not suit—at least not what people generally associate with Cancers—she’s a lot more of a Sagittarius) Gender: Female Pronouns: She/her Romantic Orientation: Demiromantic Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual Nationality: English Ethnicity: Biracial Chinese and white Current Location: Hogwarts (she has a home, I’ve just forgotten) Living Conditions: Significantly well-off Title(s): None recognised by the government, but Kissing Ambassador as recognised by Gryffindor (a title shared with Sirius Black). Applicable Tropes: Action Girl; Cute Bruiser; Damsel Out of Distress; Not Afraid To Die; Screw the Rules, I’m Doing What’s Right; Talk to the Fist; more but I’m mobile and sleepy.
BACKGROUND
Birth Place: TBD (I have it written down somewhere, but I don’t know where). Hometown: TBD (ditto). Social Class: Socialite/elite, though she’s been abstaining from it for years. Education Level: Completed OWLs, in the process of NEWT level at Hogwarts in Seventh Year. Father: Robert McKinnon, ambassador for the Ministry of Magic. Mother: Jia McKinnon (nee Chang), socialite. Very good at playing the game. Adopted? No. Sibling(s): Matthew McKinnon Birth Order: Marlene, Matthew. Children: None. Pet(s): Not yet, but she’s still holding out for a dog. Temporarily reobtained Matthew’s owl, Ascot, which used to be hers, but is likely going to give to Elena Woodrow or Felix Fortescue. Other Important Relatives: Grandparents (Alphaeus and Callisto McKinnon), whom she has not spoken to since the age of eleven. Old blood, old money, pureblood, and proud. Previous Relationships: N/A. She’s not especially well-versed in feelings. Arrests? At a Muggle rock show. She was released at three a.m. when Sirius came to drag her out. Prison Time? No.
SKILLS & ABILITIES
Physical Strength: Surprising given her lithe stature, but she’s a Quidditch player who has to throw a decently-weighted ball through the air with enough force to get to a fellow Chaser whilst possibly flying in the opposite direction. Far more strength is required than many realise. Offense: Highly skilled. Also, her likely approach. Defense: Less skilled, though in light of recent events, she’s viewing it with renewed focus. Speed: Extremely high. Marlene is known to be fast, whether on her feet, a broomstick or with a fist. She once outflew a bludger. Intelligence: Higher than she demonstrates. She has a tendency to act on impulse so she frequently doesn’t think but when she does, she’s quite intelligent. She’s generally very good with anything based in people as well. Accuracy: High, particularly due to Quidditch, though when she was younger it had a tendency to suffer for speed. Agility: Very high. Necessary for a Quidditch player without any means to defend themself, and her smaller size and lithe form aid in this. Stamina: Significant, again due to Quidditch. Teamwork: Very good, dependent on the leader. Marlene is a very good person to have in a team and is great back up if she respects the person in charge and they have earned the right to be considered some form of authority from her. If not, she’s an absolute nightmare. She has no desire to be the leader. Talents: Wanting to push Lucius Malfoy into a fountain Dueling, maintaining a muttered commentary, flying, punching, running, holding onto her faith in people, getting under Lucius Malfoy’s skin. Shortcomings: Impulsive, reckless, Herbology & Potions, can’t back down, Language(s) Spoken: English, Magical Aptitudes? DADA, Charms, offensive spells, particularly anything fire-based Quidditch? Gryffindor Chaser Favorite Wizarding Game? Exploding Snap. She enjoys both the speed of the game and the opportunity to see people’s eyebrows catch fire. Ride a Broom? Hell yes.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS
Face Claim: Chloe Bennet Eye Color: Brown Hair Color: Brown Hair Type/Style: About the length it is on her blog sidebar image (which means I really should change her icon, though she will eventually cut her hair to icon-length; they’re wizards, so it’s not necessarily a permanent cut, but at some upcoming point there will be a cut). Glasses/Contacts? No Dominant Hand: Right Height: 5′5″ Weight: “Light enough for Sirius to carry me back to the castle when I bet he couldn’t. I have no idea where he got the strength from, honestly. Lost myself three sugar quills and some dignity. Scored a free ride and Remus’ laughter.” Build: Lithe, small Exercise Habits: Quidditch training, which is grueling. Frequently flies outside of that too, which is again more exercise than many realise. Goes for runs too. Skin Tone: Warm (I honestly struggle with answering this irl because the general consensus people offer me is tanned but like. having a mixed skin tone bc you’re biracial is not the same as tanning? but then it’s probably like tanned leather and gah idk) Tattoos: Not yet, but when she joins the Order, she starts commemorating the fallen on her back in a large tattoo of a night sky, placing them all on her back as stars like the Greeks of old. Piercings: Her ears are double-pierced. Marks/Scars: Scrapes and scratches from various adventures, either with animals, in the forest, during Quidditch, during summer escapades or because of fights she may find herself in. A mark on her left hip where she once took a bludger for another player so that the Quaffle could be shot and the game won. Madam Pomfrey had healed the bone and reknit the skin with no small amount of exasperated muttering, and could likely have removed the scar from the skin being fixed, but Marlene had a natural aversion to the Hospital Wing and left as soon as possible. Besides, she doesn’t mind the scar. Notable Features: Small hands, a birthmark to the right of her stomach, right at the juncture of stomach and pelvic bone. Usual Expression: Wry and cheeky, amusement playing at her lips. Clothing Style: Messy? She kind of just throws on whatever. She likes shorts and plaid shirts a bit too big for her on top of tanks and honestly, whatever she can find. Tanks are probably the tightest she goes in general, except for probably dresses if she’s in the mood to impress. Jewelry: She considered knuckle rings at one point to cause more damage in the case of a punch, but her hands are small enough that she’d be more damaged than her opponent, and the fists of fury do pretty well on their own. Earrings, mostly. Allergies: Weak-willed men and Lucius Malfoy’s hair N/A Body Temperature: High Diet: Generally whatever she feels like. More than people would expect, but a Quidditch player has to keep their strength up. French toast and a ton of protein (generally red meat), mostly. She really likes berries, particularly strawberries and raspberries. Physical Ailments: N/A.
PSYCHOLOGY
Moral Alignment: Chaotic Good Temperament: Sanguine Element: Fire Primary Intelligence Type: Kinesthetic Approximate IQ: Sociability: Generally pretty high, though currently at an all time low since her first month or so at the castle. Emotional Stability: “No.” She tends to think that distracting herself from her emotions because she can’t process them is the same as dealing with them and being stable. It is not. Obsession(s): Some would argue dragons and bad life choices, but N/A Compulsion(s): Doing the opposite of what someone tells her to do, particularly if someone’s telling her not to do something or that she can’t, muttered commentary about life Phobia(s): Not so much a phobia as a severe and intense dislike, but cats. Addiction(s): Adrenaline, if anything. Distractions. Drug Use: Medium; unlikely to reject but generally doesn’t initiate herself. Alcohol Use: High, mostly with her friends.
PSYCHOLOGY
Speech Style: Generally casual, with a tendency towards quips, snark or sarcasm, but occasionally slips into something more eloquent. It’s a mix of childhood, her family and all she has been since she was eleven. Accent: British (I am vague with zero regrets) Quirks: Drumming her fingers against herself or anything, much like Matty did; sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth if she is focusing very intensely when writing Hobbies: Drawing schematics to obtain dragons during History of Magic, sending/saying pick up lines to Frank and cataloguing his reactions and blush range, sniping at Lucius Malfoy, flying, Habits: Biting her lip; presenting feelings she doesn’t know how to deal with as a quip; bad decisions and coping mechanisms. Nervous Tics: Eyes moving/twitches, slight twist to her lips Drives/Motivations: Fighting the good fight, the people she loves, an awakening about injustice served by her grandparents’ treatment of her mother Boggart: An inferius bearing Matthew’s face. Positive Traits: daring, loyal, spirited Negative Traits: reckless, vicious, caustic Sense of Humor: Quips, sarcasm, dry, sardonic, teasing—it varies, but it’s all rooted in and derived from the snarky commentary she used to provide as a kid. Do They Curse Often? Yes. Generally tries to avoid doing so in front of children. Catchphrase(s): “I am appalled.” (nearly always as a joke/some form of sarcasm) / “I am innocent.” (generally to her friends, when she is probably not)
VIEWS & PHILOSOPHIES
Life: Made of love and losing. Death: Worth it, if she can help even one person; also, ideally before her loved ones. Love: Absolutely exists, but doesn’t see the romantic type as available/able to occur for her Family: Fractured right now, and like she let them (Matt & parents) down—but her friends are also her family. Friends: People she has let herself make a home in, who are in her chest and can never be turned out—willing to fight and die for them any day. Politics: Doesn’t trust the government because she knows how they work and their practitioners. Religion: Seventeen year old girls don’t run into war without faith and belief rooted in their bloodstream, but hers has always been in people. She’s heard of God from Lily and Mary, though, and she’s glad they have Him. Maybe He’ll keep them safe. At least alive longer than her. Work: Implies a future outside of war, which she does not expect. Money: Definitely not lacking. Body Modification: Absolutely here for voluntary—see aforementioned future constellation tattoo.
FAVORITES
Activity: Bantering with her friends. Animal: Dogs. Magical animal would be dragons, but otherwise, definitely dogs. Beverage: Firewhiskey, actually. She enjoys the burn. Book: Catcher In The Rye. Given to her by an American tourist at an underground Muggle rock show the summer between fifth and sixth year. Beyond the book itself, it’s something special to her, given by someone who wanted to give her something to remember them by, so that they could make a tangible impact on the world around them. She understands that feeling. Color: Red, though she does have quite the preoccupation with gold, and neither are due to Gryffindor. Quidditch Team: Gryffindor! Or Appleby Arrows, probably. Food: French toast Flower: Rose, though she’d probably say “lily” if asked and wink at said redhead. Gem: Ruby, probably—courage and vitality are not things she’s necessarily lacking, but things she thinks could need more of in the days to come. She’s never been brave nor strong enough in her own mind. Holiday: New Years Eve Mode of Transportation: Broomstick, though that may change when she gets her Apparition license. Quote/Saying: “Then I defy you, stars!” —romeo montague, romeo and juliet Scenery: Autumn trees and forests. Scent: Gardenia Sport: Quidditch Weather: Autumn breezes. Vacation Destination: Anywhere, depending on who she’s with.
ATTITUDES
Greatest Dream: For everyone she loves to make it through the war—for the war to mean something. Greatest Fear: Being Imperius’d to do harm to a loved one—to have no choice and to be forced to do harm to someone she would sooner die for. Most at Ease When: With those she loves, though to differing degrees—she has never had any walls with Rod, and Sirius is to whom she feels the most kinship born from similarity, and Lily was the first person since Rod that Marlene felt she could call home, and Mary is the one she will sit on her bed with in the quiet of her night and try to dismantle walls for because she wants to tell her, and James is her ultimate bro, and Frank will always have her back, and she can always trust Emmeline and Remus and all of her friends to be on her team, but she is not necessarily at ease telling them all anything. Rod and Sirius are the two that are easiest in that sense, because she has no walls with the former and the latter is the one she always thinks is most likely to understand, out of her friends, because of the similarities in their personalities and contexts. Action-wise, though, she feels very at ease when making quips, because it is something familiar to lose herself in. Least at Ease When: Being forced to think or talk about the future. Worst Possible Thing That Could Happen: Watching someone she loves die for her, probably. Close contenders—watching anyone she loves die, being Imperius’d and killing someone she loves, everyone she loves dying. That last one is probably the worst, actually, especially if you combine it with losing the war because then all these bright and wonderful people she loves died for nothing. Biggest Achievement: She doesn’t really feel as if she’s achieved very much. Perhaps having so many people she holds in her heart because they are all blessings, as terrifying as it is to have that many people who can break her heart. Gryffindor Chaser, for something more quantifiable. Biggest Regret: Leaving Rod—not Slytherin, just him. It would be to do with not being able to save Matthew, but she had been in no position to help or even be aware he was in danger, so it’s not as guilty a regret as it is devastated. Most Embarrassing Moment: Lucius dared her to do something dumb and she got in trouble which led to her grandmother giving her a long, boring and rather sharp and rude lecture in which she hissed about ladylike behaviour and Lucius made cracks about it for weeks, asking her how her embroidery was going and the like. She threatened to push him into a fountain. Biggest Secret: The overwhelming mess of conflicting feelings that is what Rodolphus Lestrange is to her, probably. Which is secret by default because she doesn’t even know herself lmao. As for something she could actually tell but hasn’t, hanging out with him after the funeral. It’s pretty recent, admittedly. Top Priorities: Her loved ones’ happiness.