McKinnon:: Marlene Catriona

[Twiggy]

Marlene Catriona McKinnon



I'm just another face in the crowd,
I'm gonna break away somehow

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one,

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The Applicant

Name: Mia
How many years have you been role-playing?: Three
Contact: I’m not comfortable giving my email, so you can reach me over Neopets, I suppose. Blueposterboardpink (My Neopets username) If that's suspended, try my sister's summer_sunrise_girl

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Drying in the colour of the evening sun,

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The Character

Full name: Marlene Catriona McKinnon
Nicknames:Marlie, Marla, Lena, McKinnon
Gender: Female
Date of birth:May twenty-second, nineteen sixty
Age: Seventeen
Year: Seventh
House: Gryffindor
Wand: Hawthorn, nine and two third inches, with the hair from the tail of a unicorn. Light, but pleasantly swishy.

Blood status: Pureblood.
Sexuality: Pansexual
Ethnicity: 100% Irish [/u][/size][/font]

Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away,
But something in our minds will always stay,

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Hair: Ruddy scarlet hair reaches usually just her shoulders. On a good day, it’s curled. If she has no patience, it will be left to hang around her face, straight.

Eyes: Wide brown eyes compliment the red her hair, though most of the time they are tired, bored or just plain uninterested. You can tell what she is thinking by her eyes.

Build: She has a fairly curvaceous body, not fat, but her curves are well defined. Since she’s fairly tall, it diminishes the evidency of them.

Distinguishing features: A mix of rather large eyes and plump lips give her an easily recognizable face, but to add to this, she has a scar on her arm from a child hood incident. It’s pretty much a half circle, located right on the wrist of her left hand.
Face claim: Alicia Witt

Overall appearance:
Marlene McKinnon is by no means a supermodel. Nor, however, is she ugly. Not the type to make you stop and look again, but the type that if you look at her twice, you might wonder why you overlooked her in the first place. She has embodied the traditional Irish beauty with red tresses and a bridge of freckles across her nose. But more on that later. What really makes Marlene pretty is her eyes.

Large brown eyes in which you can see her every emotion give her face personality. Whoever said that one's eyes were the window to their soul was absolutely correct in Marlene's case. Long black lashes give these eyes a sincere look, though most of the time, the dark shade of her eyes against her lashes can also give them a constant sleepy appearance. Her eyes are most definately her best feature, the right size to compliment every other aspect of her face.

Then we have the hair. Naturally red locks fall just past her shoulders, very rarely tied up. If anything is ever done with them, she has curled them. The color is what we think stereotypically, is natural for someone of her country. This, however sadly, isn't true, and she and her father are the only in her family to posess such vibrant tresses. One year, Marlene experimented with dyes, changing her hair to a warm, honey blond. She soon missed the vibrant red, and re-dyed her hair to obtain her natural colour again.

She has a straight lightly sloped nose and plump lips that are almost always painted a red near as bright as her hair. She is reasonably tall, standing at 5'7. Her curves are prominent, giving her a rather womanly figure. She obtained a scar in the shape of a half circle on her left wrist from falling on to a piece of broken glass. There's scar down the right side of her right index finger that she obtained when she first played with a knife. She's one hundred percent Marlene McKinnon.
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Perhaps this final act was meant,
To clinch a lifetime's argument,

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Amortentia:
Miss McKinnon is attracted to these scents, all of which hold a special place in her heart and memories.
-Freshly cut grass or hay
-Vanilla
-Laundry hung on a washing line.

Patronus:Rabbit. They say your patronus reflects the person are, deep, deep inside. The person most people tend to hide away from everyone else, and leave in the core of their being. The person they were born, not the one they created for themselves. To miss McKinnon, her patronus may suggest that she is shy, that she is quiet, that she hides away from herself. And this, sadly, is true about the McKinnon that was born. But not the one that was created.

Boggart:When faced with a boggart, the only thing that McKinnon sees, is herself. Herself, alone and friendless. Human companionship is very important to McKinnon, and she thrives only in the company of other people. Her boggart embodies this fear by seperating her from other people.

Mirror of Erised:When McKinnon stumbled across the Mirror of Erised her eyes fell upon a delightful scene. There she stood, surrounded by family and friends, and every one had a smile for her. Around her were those dear to her, and even something she had thought impossible; Sirius had his arms encircled lovingly around her. But that was impossible. He had never so much as given her a second glance.

Worst Memory:For this sensitive soul, her worst memories is one of her first trips to Diagon Alley. This was when she was four, and her older brother, Andrew had recieved his acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Her father had taken her and Victoria to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, for sundaes. Moments later, Marlene had noticed something in an shop's window, opposite. Amidst the hustle of Diagon Alley, she was pushed and pulled down the street until the Parlour was out of view.

She sat down, afraid and alone, outside of Gringotts, to cry. What was it that her mother always said to do when you got lost? She couldn't remember. Time dragged on and on, as it does in seemingly hopeless situations, or as it does when we are young, which were both the case. Finally, her father spotted the young witch, whose eyes were blotchy and face red from crying. Her father swept her up in giant hug and said sternly "Marlie, never, ever do that again."

Best Memory: Out of all her memories, the one that Miss McKinnon cherishes the most is a simple one. The day she met her best friend. Her best muggle friend, I suppose. That girl was one Anne McNab. The curious girl who decided to find out who lived in the house at the end of the street, hidden behind all those trees. Marlene and Victoria had been outside playing in cache-cache, and Anne had tripped and revealed Marlene's hidding place. Marlene had been rather cross at the girl, and began to tell her off. Anne dissolved into tears, and fled from the yard. It was a wonder she hadn't seen Andrew flitting around on his broom just behind the house.

The next day, Anne returned, luckily, when no magical happenings were about, outside anyways, with a basket of cookies. Just like the typical girl next door. And she begged Marlene to forgive her. The little girl was only six, yet she begged another to forgive her for something she had no control over, that was what won Marlene over. The two were fast friends ever since that day, despite the fact that Marlene only goes home for summer.

Likes:
-Sleeping
-Good looking boys
-People who aren’t annoying
-Swimming
-Storms
-Noise
-Procrastinating
-Chocolate
-Being clean
-Lightening
-Writing letters to people
-Day dreaming
-The rain
-Muggle music

Dislikes:
-Silence
-Ugly people (Yeah, she’s a little narcissitic)
-Summer
-The sun
-Wakeup calls
-Getting dirty
-Bugs
-Flying
-Herbology (It has plants. Plants = dirt)
-Being too warm
-Being sick

Hobbies:
-Sleeping
-Making noise
-Watching muggle sports (Rugby, especially)
-Swimming
-Hanging out by the lake
-Eating chocolate
-Fussing with people’s hair… Sometimes her own
-Teasing younger kids

Habits:
-Tapping her fingers on any nearby surface when she is bored
-Constantly moving her hands (fixing her hair, checking her clothes, twirling her thumbs)
-Humming
-Waking early
-Biting her nails
-Pacing
-Tends to tease people
-Generally being unable to stay still

Strengths:
-Honest
-Loyal
-Attentive (most of the time)
-Very good at ‘home-y’ stuff
-Energetic
-Patient
-Good at thinking up solutions on the spot
-Helpful
-Kind (to almost everyone)
-Very organized

Weaknesses:
-Can’t tell a lie to save her life
-Completely gullible
-Can be very naïve
-Horrible at keeping secrets
-Can be very gossipy
-Holds grudges
-Easily hurt
-Bad at making decisions
-Proud (Makes her seem standoffish)
-Too inquisitive


Overall Personality:
If you were to look at miss McKinnon, your first impression might be a little off from the truth. You might think, well, everyone must know that girl's name. She seems to be the one to stand out from the crowd, without using extreme means to do so. You'd be wrong. At a second glance, you might see that Marlene was the type of girl that held herself back, to give others the chance to shine. Oh, yes, she excelled in certain areas, but other than that, she was known to be a wall flower. And with good reason too. Her brother, had been blessed with the booksmarts and athletic abilities, her sister, the good looks and the populairity. Miss McKinnon managed only to become someone most older people would call a sweetheart.

She was, indeed, the type of person to go to if you had a problem. You could tell her what was on your mind and receive sympathy. She liked to be the girl that everyone could be friends with. The only problem with this is she honest, couldn't tell a lie to save her life. She wouldn't be one to cover up for someone else, so, this sometimes was a problem with how she tried to deal with people. She is amazingly loyal, so if you're a close friend to her, you've earned yourself a friend for life.

Marlene is a very hardworker, and probably would have made an outstanding Hufflepuff. She has too much energy, and very rarely will you find her still. Unless she is sleeping. A favorite activity, that is. She tends to use her hands all the time, and speaks through her hands as much as she uses verbal communication. She also has the annoying habit that everyone hates, she bites her nails. It's only one in a list of things she does without realizing.

Despite her reputation of being a sweetheart, she can hold a grudge with the best of them. This is because she takes offense easily, and even the smalles comment can feel big to her. This comes from always being overshadowed by siblings that you think are better than you, so flaws are magnified. It might also have to do with the fact that she's a redhead, and redhead's blush easily. Which she despises with a passion, and so if you add to the amount she blushes, chances are, she's just not going to like you.

Like previously mentioned, Marlene is a terrible liar. But to make up for this, she is extremely gullible. Doesn't seem like a fair exchange, now does it? Because of this, she tends to read more into how people tell her things, then to what they actually say, but most of the time, if you tell her something and can hold a straight face, she'll have no problem believing you. Trust is a valued thing in any society, and she does put a lot of stock in how trustworth someone is, because she believes herself to be a very trustworthy individual.
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That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could,

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Family:
Eamonn John McKinnon – 50 – Publicist for top wizarding franchises
Fiona Elizabeth O’Reilly-McKinnon – 47 – Stay at home mother
Andrew Desmond McKinnon – 26 – Healer
Victoria Deirdre McKinnon – 19 - Waitress
Place of birth: Born and raised on the outskirts of Wicklow, Ireland, miss Marlene got into quite a few scrapes. Most of which inculded nearly being spotted doing wizardary by the one muggle family on her street.

Overall History:
On May 22nd, 1960, Marlene Catriona McKinnon was born to a Pureblood wizarding family. Now the addition to the McKinnon family could be considered a good thing, and it could be considered a bad thing. They were blessed with the bubbly little Marlene, who took it to heart to do every little thing she was told not to. Was a wonderful baby, but uncontrolable as a toddler. She stole her father's wand, played with things no child should touch (knives,) and was just in general a terrible child.

Then came the Diagon Alley incident, after which, her parents made sure to never leave her unattended, which didn't matter much, because Marlene had learned her lesson. She began to calm down. It was at this stage in her life that she met her best friend, Anne McNab, and also, another event happened, which was to shape her personality. Her grandmother, the one whom Marlene was named for, passed away. It was natural, but still shocking, especially when you're six, and your supplier of sweets and candies suddenly is just... gone.

After this event, Marlene was discovered that she had more energy than she knew what to do with. She began to invent games for her and her sister to play. Most of this involved running around something a certain amount of times, or hopping on one foot for so long, and other childish things. She became quite good at hopscotch as a child, and so, even now, whenever she sees a hopscotch, she's compelled to play a round, just for old time sake. I suppose by now, you've realized that if she were around today, she'd be diagnosed with ADD. It's true, Marlene, like many with ADD had too much energy and not enough time. If this benefitted anything, it was her body. Due to the amount of time she spent playing, she became rather lean and fit.

Then came Hogwarts. Times at Hogwarts all mesh together, but there are notable moments. Her first flying class, for example. Oh, could she remember that day! The wind whipped through her hair, which was, for once tied back. The Professor instructed her, and she did what she was told, but once in the air, she lost it. She slipped back, over the end of the broom, and down through the fifteen feet of air she had managed. Landing on her side had been purely reflex, but nonetheless, her arm had ended up crumpled, she hadn't moved it fast enough. A broken arm on her first week of Hogwarts had definately not been part of the plan. Despite that, her arm healed very quickly, thanks to the nurse.

Another, had been her first Hogsmeade weekend. She had never known a place quite as enchanting as that village when it was lightly covered in snow. She had been quick to check out every place she could, making to sure to stay twice as long in Honeydukes. She had warmed up in the Three Broomsticks, and been dared to enter the Shrieking Shack. She had been both frightened and excited at the prospect of entering the place, and was sorely disappointed to find it like any other abandoned house, well, despite all the broken furniture. No ghosts, no ghouls, no axe murder hiding behind the door. Though, maybe it was good that the latter wasn't there. Though she was disappointed in the Shrieking Shack, the first Hogsmeade trip was a good enough memory to be one of her favorites.
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For all those born beneath an angry star,

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Member title: Gryffindor’s Sweetheart
Secret Phrase: the clocks go flying at the speed of sound
Sample:
The train screeched to a halt and her and the other first years she was sitting with raced eagerly out of the train. Marlene shivered slightly as the wind passed through her new robes. She walked shly to the man that was calling for all the First Years, hanging toward the back of the group. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ears as the man told them that to get to the school, they'd have to cross the lake. "Why can't we go with the other students?" Marlene asked crossly, gesturing to the carriages that were now leaving, when he told her to get into a boat with three other students.

He smiled kindly at her, and she did get in the boat. "Well, because, it's tradition for the first years to cross the lake." He answered, as their boat began to drift off towards the castle.

She glanced at the castle through eyes widened in astonishment. She drew in a hasty breath, frightened by the imposing sight of the place she was to call home for the next seven years. There was just so much of it. Her body shook, despite her silent pleas to act like she knew what was coming. She had, after all been told about Hogwarts. She just hadn't expected this.

The boat trip came to an end, and her peers and herself were herded into the Great Hall, where they stood infront of the entire population of the school. A rather stern looking teacher, who she was to learn was named Professor McGonagall, placed a ratty hat on a stool. Marlene nearly fainted when the hat started to sing. Despite the fact she knew that this was coming, she raised her hand to her mouth, attempting to mask her fright. "A hat that sings, really? What next?" A boy near her snickered, out of boredom.

She shot him a look. "Be quiet!" The words were an order, which made the boy laugh even louder. A blush crept onto her cheeks, making her feel foolish. She looked at the floor, pushing her foot back and forth, until the Hat's song finished and the professor began to call names.

It was an excruitatingly long process until finally, her name was called. A sudden feeling of fright hit her, creating a knot in her stomach. She walked slowly, toward the hat, attempting to take as long as she could. Professor McGonagall stood next to the stool holding the Hat and looking at Marlene impatiently. "Hurry up, please," She said, as Marlene finally inched up to the seat.

She sat done on the stool, the knot of fear in her stomach only enlarging as the school looked on at her, waiting to see which house the girl was to be part of. The hat was lowered onto her head, and Marlene gave a shaky little sigh. She opened her mouth, about to tell Professor McGonagall that this was all a mistake, that she should go home, that this had obviously not been for her. There most be some other Marlene McKinnon out in the world that was missing this because she was sitting there, with the sorting hat on her head. Suddenly, a single word from the hat pried her out of her thoughts. "GRYFFINDOR"

The hat was pulled off her head, and she was pushed into the direction of a table full of clapping students. She stumbled toward them, glad that the ordeal of sorting was over. She sat down at the bench, and smiled. Maybe she was going to like this place.

Lest we forget how fragile we are...

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