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crimsonrevolt · 7 years

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Congratulations Arya you’ve been accepted to Crimson Revolt as Marlene McKinnon!

↳ please refer to our character checklist

Wow -- let me tell you that it was a struggle figuring out the right Marlene for us -- given that we had some amazing applications for her. But ultimately yours won us over because we could feel you breathing life into Marlene with every word you wrote about her. Every section of your application was so well-crafted, with new information scattered around everywhere until we got a grasp on exactly how you saw her and were planning to write her in this roleplay. We’re so excited to see her on the dash and for you to explore all of the various complications and imperfections that make her Marlene! She’s going to be an amazing addition to our roleplay and we’re so excited to see you write her! *your faceclaim change has been accepted

application beneath the cut

OUT OF CHARACTER

INTRODUCTION

Hey I’m Arya and I’m 21. I live in beautiful California so I’m from the PST timezone. My preferred pronouns are she/her.

ACTIVITY

I’d say I’m a solid 8. I work about 30 hours a week and when the school year starts again I will be a full time student, but I’m still on my computer for a few hours a day.

TRIGGERS

*removed for privacy

HOW DID YOU FIND US?

Stalking the tags for a new rp.

WHAT HARRY POTTER CHARACTER DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?

Ugh, okay, so my dad used to read me the books every night and I remember falling in love with Hermione. I know, so did everyone else, but I was so thrilled to see a bookworm who loved being a bookworm and didn’t really care what anyone else thought. I also loved Luna, but I didn’t really identify with her much. Towards the end of the series I started identifying and sympathizing with Draco and how he was always trying to keep up with his family’s expectations for how he should be. I definitely got that same vibe from my family so seeing a character struggle with it was great.

ANYTHING ELSE?

This app contains some triggers, namely addiction and PTSD. Please read with caution, health always comes first.

IN CHARACTER

DESIRED CHARACTER

full name : Marlene Audie McKinnon  Marlene - A mix of Maria and Magdaline, which mean “Star of the Sea” and “of Magdala”. Marlene has always been a little unimpressed with the lack of deep meaning in her name unlike like the Black’s constellations or the Carrow’s mythology. Even Lily has her flowers. Marlene has never really been a fan of her plain name. When she went to Hogwarts and people started calling her Marls and Marly, she fell in love with the nicknames.

Audie - Meaning “Of noble strength”

McKinnon - Meaning “Fair born” or “love”. She’s also been called McKitten, McKnockers and McKnickers. Most warrant a slap.

FACE CLAIM

Freya Mavor is my preferred FC, but that’s totally negotiable. For alternates I’d say Candice Accola or Teresa Palmer

REASON FOR CHOSEN CHARACTER

Story time: I first applied for a Marlene character about two years ago for my first time in the Marauders fandom. Her traits were something along the lines of being wild and passionate and a bit aggressive which is right up my alley. So I got accepted and on a whim went to look for some aesthetic things and was absolutely horrified because her name came up. I didn’t know she was actually a cannon character and thought the admins had stolen her from another RP. I freaked out to a friend because I thought I was playing a stolen character and he finally told me that she existed and had just gathered a fan base on tumblr. Brilliant.

Since then I’ve fallen in love with Marlene as a character. Because she’s a canon character that there’s very little known about, it’s easy to have her plot lines go in all different directions and I love the amount of versatility I get. It means that every RP has a different vibe. Either she’s in a different house, or a different blood purity, or has family conflicts or different friend groups. I adore every aspect of it. Playing out so many different possibilities makes everything extremely unique and bring out different development aspects from the character.

Admittedly, there are certain Marlene skeletons I don��t really vibe with. I’m not a fan of playing her as a stone cold bitch or some sort of ice queen, it’s just not my preferred portrayal, though I still think it’s really cool she can be played in so many different ways. Personally, I’ve always played her more as a bubbly, sarcastic bitch when she wants to be, who doesn’t really recognize she’s upsetting others until they’ve drifted away. She’s hyperactive and passionate about everything in her life with an intense devotion for her friends, family and the causes she believes in. Overall, I’m just a huge Marlene fan.

Mini rant time: I know some people in the fandom don’t really like the character of Marlene because they see her as a cheap romantic partner for Sirius or a fifth Marauder that never was (these are the most common complaints I’ve heard). I understand how that can become frustrating, but it also breaks my heart a little. A lot. I don’t think it does justice to most Marlene players and their characterization choices. I firmly believe she can and should be played in a way that is inclusive and balanced with as many ups as she has downs. End rant.

Speaking of downs, she sure as heck has some. I love that she has an addictive personality, kind of a “I’ll try anything once” gone wrong. She’s the kind of girl to take a handout at a party, not caring what’s in it as long as she’ll be having a good time. She rejects authority unless the authority works in her benefit. Having a wild child character who is equal parts bold and terrified, extroverted and insecure, comforting yet comforted by substance, and supportive but envious is my dream character and I’ve been able to find that in Marlene.

I also love her stance on the war. Marlene is obviously fighting the war, passionate about rejecting the mentality of the Death Eaters. However, Marlene hates the war and hates the fact they have to fight it in the first place. She doesn’t want to be a child soldier, doesn’t want to see her friends being picked off. As someone who believes in the good in everyone, she’s often tried to sway Death Eaters away from their side, but often the conversations end up frustrating both parties to the point where it just turns into a fight. If she was any less emotional, I could see Marlene being a neutral party, someone trying to get both sides to just chill and love everyone. However, because that’s not possible, she’s gone in full force to defend people’s ability to exist how they want.

Being a character that embodies happiness and compassion, but struggles with the cruelty of the world and her own intensity, I’ve fallen in love with Marlene and totally dug her skeleton, so here I am, babble-writing about why I think she’s an incredible character. Marlene’s a force of nature and if nothing else, is willing to tear the world down while sweeping up and bringing everyone around her into the chaos.

PREFERRED SHIPS // CHARACTER SEXUALITY // GENDER & PRONOUNS

Alright, I’m about to go in because I have some pretty strong opinions on this one. To state it simply, I play Marlene as pansexual and demiromantic. She’s cisgender and uses she/her pronouns.

I’ve always seen Marlene as an extremely affectionate character, especially when it comes to her friends. She’s that one who’s going to be sitting on laps because she feels like it, giving cheek kisses to say goodnight or insisting on piggy back rides. Part of this is because she’s a very physical person so it’s a physical outlet for her to show her affection and love for her friends. Another part is it makes her feel validated, wanted. She needs that affirmation

Romantically, Marlene struggles. She doesn’t like the thought of being contained to just one person she’s allowed to be affectionate towards. Additionally, she struggles with coming to terms with romantic feelings and rather than working them out, just shoves them down and ignores them, preferring to stick to herself. She hates the culture of “Grow up, get married, have kids, live happily ever after”. Admittedly, some of this stems from her fear she’d make a terrible wife and mother. Okay, a lot of this stems from that fear. Especially as she’s watching her friends coupling off one-by-one, Marlene feels like she’s being left behind, which only makes her more resentful of relationships.

Sexually, Marlene is adventurous. She doesn’t care who you are or how you identify, if she finds you attractive, that’s all there is too it. Marlene sees sex as just another form of intimacy and doesn’t quite understand why people shame casual hookups. Of course, she’d never consider shagging someone like James, he’s like her brother and that would be gross. But Dorcas? Remus? Sure, if they wanted too, she’d be interested. That doesn’t mean she has romantic feelings for them (clearly, given the above paragraph), it’s just fun.

In terms of ships, I’ve never really had a particular ship for Marlene, considering I do play her heavily disliking romance. I have been interested in testing the waters with ships like Marlene/Fabian or Gideon, Marlene/Dorcas and I have a guilty pleasure (but not really guilty) for Marlene/Death Eaters. It’s still always been weird to ship Marlene for me since her attitude eventually seems to turn most people off anyway.

CREATE ONE (OR MORE!) OF THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR CHARACTER:

-A MOODBOARD

Tagged on this blog as { Miss Moody } http://mckitten-marlene.tumblr.com/tagged/{ Miss Moody }

-AN AESTHETIC

Tagged on this blog as { Aesthetic } http://mckitten-marlene.tumblr.com/tagged/{ Aesthetic }

-A MOCKBLOG

http://mckitten-marlene.tumblr.com (the account this is send from) is my mock/muse blog for Marlene. Some of the content is inconsistent, but it overall encompasses my characterization. The tag { Thoughts Can Consume } is general muse stuff and { Delve Deeper } has more to do with character development.

-A PLAYLIST

Tagged on this blog as { Chained to the Rhythm } or Playlist. http://mckitten-marlene.tumblr.com/tagged/{ Chained to the Rhythm }

-EXPAND ON TRAITS

✓ Open-minded: Marlene falls in and out of love with everyone she meets. People are fascinating. Their energy, their flaws, Marlene wants to learn everything she can about people without looking down at them. Not everyone shares the same beliefs and she’s okay with that, to an extent of course. She believes that the world is constantly changing and people should be willing to change along with it. Never one to make judgments on how others choose to live their lives, she seeks to learn from the differences she sees in others rather than reject them. Perhaps the slight exception would be the mentalities of Death Eaters. Marlene hates prejudice, but she hates it because it shows exactly how close minded people are. However, she’s tried to understand them, to find out where their hatred comes from. When she came up with nothing, she’s decided to firmly reject their discriminatory mentality.

✓ Eager: For adventure, for a rush, to learn, to fight. Marlene is always looking towards the future with excitement. She’s a bundle of energy and can’t stand to simply be sitting around and doing nothing. Rather, she’s always looking for the next big thing, whatever is waiting over the hill or around the corner. Always grinning, bouncing from person and person, she wants to experience everything she can. Life is short and with the war, she’s almost certain her life will be short as well, so she might as well do everything she can while she’s still here. If she can pull a few others along with her as she goes, even better. There’s always something waiting ahead and Marlene wants to be the first one to find it.

✓ Forgiving: Marlene believes in the power of honesty. When she was a child, her parents told her it was kind to always accept apologies when they were given and that mentality has remained with her. However, Marlene is not one to say she accepts apologies, but does not trust other after they’ve crossed her. Instead, Marlene forgives others wholeheartedly and accepts them back into her life without a second thought. Though to many it may seem a weakness, to Marlene it is one of her greatest strengths. People deserve second chances and she is more than happy to give them out to those who seem to genuinely seek them.

✓ Intelligent: Though an outsider would never make the assumption, Marlene has always been exceptionally intelligent. She would’ve made a great Ravenclaw like the rest of her family, but shaped her intelligence into something different. Rather than simply reading and becoming book smart, Marlene learned how to be clever, to wiggle in and out of situations, to manipulate. It’s a subtlety, something that has become naturally ingrained into the blonde. She left behind the idea that intelligence existed in black and white and has devoted her time into developing her own kind of brilliance.

✕ Aggressive: Fists first, talk later. Marlene got into her first fight when she was in her second year at Hogwarts when a kid taunted her family during an argument. Since then, getting into verbal and physical fights became a norm for her. Going hand in hand with being too emotional, Marlene is extremely aggressive. She doesn’t like to talk out what she’s feeling, most people don’t understand and don’t want to, so she pushes it into her attitude. Snappish, competitive and willing to fight her way out of any situation, it often is misconstrued for her being a mean person. Marlene’s far from mean, she’s just intense and doesn’t know how to manage her anger.

✕ Emotional: Marlene feels too much of everything. There is no such thing as experiencing emotions half way for her. She is ruled entirely by her heart rather than her head. However, Marlene rarely sees this as a negative (despite the fact it almost always is). In her mind, she’d rather be every emotion bundled into one person that barely be able to feel anything at all. However, given exactly how ruled by her emotions she is, it’s a source of conflict for her in many of her relationships. If she’s angry, she’s complete fury and rage. If she’s upset, it’s as if the world has fallen apart and slipped through her fingers. Managing someone with such intense emotional reactions is a daunting task for any of her friends.

✕ Clingy: It’s ironic, given how easily she pushes people away with her brashness. Marlene doesn’t like to let go of people, nor does she like to ever be alone. If she likes the people around her, Marlene attaches and does everything she can to keep them in her life. It makes her overbearing, obnoxious and frustrating to deal with when she feels like she’s being rejected. Being alone is boring and brings forth the fear of being alone permanently, one of her greatest fears. In an attempt to counter it, she’s desperate for attention and doesn’t let go of people easily.

✕ Self-deprecating: Despite her cheery demeanor, Marlene has deep seated insecurities. Some stem from her family, specifically the constant competition between her brother and her. She often feels second best, leading to her believing that she’s the problem. Then, there comes the people around her. Pushing people out of her life was a common occurrence, but one she has always despised herself for. Again, she takes this all internally, knowing she’s the issue behind it, but unable to change her attitude. For someone who puts on a convincing front of being carefree and confident, internally she’s constantly battling herself and her insecurities. Any sort of failure weighs heavily on her mind and it’s not easy for her to let them go.

-A FEW HEADCANONS

Marlene makes her first kill when she’s 21. On a mission for the order, her group ended up separating from each other and being ambushed by death eaters. With the command to immediately fall back if something went wrong, she found herself stuck in a duel with another. After being injured severely, she speaks the killing curse for the first time before apparating away. Since that day she constantly wakes up with nightmares of what she did and until her own death, was never able to entirely get over the guilt, though she goes on to kill several others.

Since she was young, Marlene has felt that she existed in her brother’s shadow. He was perfect, everything any sensible parent would want from their child. Marlene was anything but. Despite being a naturally intelligent person, at school she was constantly compared to her brother academically, so she learned how to hide her intelligence. In her opinion, no one cared to notice anyway so there was no point to her bothering with putting in work for school. In her mind, she was always going to be second best and despite having a close relationship, there has always been strain in their family because of it. All Marlene has ever wanted to be was individual, but an individual who was recognized for who they were, not who their family was. As a kid, it’s why she acted out as much as she did. Now, as she’s grown older, she’s begun to internalize the belief that she is the “second best”. It’s one of her largest insecurities and something she regularly berates herself over.

When Marlene watched the kidnapping of the Minister of Magic, she was fascinated. Initially, she joined the Order to be a fighter, make a difference in this war. But they seemed to be stagnant, always held back by some idea of what proper justice was. Aversio was different, they acted boldly and apologetically. Immediately, she knew she had to find a way to join them in their cause. Of course she loved being in the Order, it was where her mates were and they acted with a high standard of morality. However, she needed something more than that, needed to make progress rather than just talk about it. Consequentially, she found her way into the folds of Aversio and hasn’t looked back since.

Marlene loves cats. The little shits have an attitude similar to her own and she identifies with them. Cats and Marlene are aloof, keeping to themselves most of the time, but not opposed to a friend or two joining them. They’re only sweet when they want to be and half the time it’s fake. If they like you, they’ll let you pet them, though they’re still prone to swipe you with a paw. If they don’t like you, they hiss and spit until they’re left alone.

As an affectionate person, Marlene always wondered what it would be like to have a normal life after the war. Growing up, she’d rejected the thought of getting married or starting a family. However, as she gets older, the desire to settle down like so many of her friends only grows. Convinced she would be a terrible wife and mother, Marlene is never able to bring herself to get married, or even entirely entertain the idea.

Marlene is a baker. Much to the surprise of her friends, the hurricane of a girl loves being in the kitchen, particularly if she’s making sweets. It started when she was younger. The kitchen was where she and her mother had their own time and place. She grew up preparing family meals by hand, rather than using magic, and continued to do so throughout her time in the order. Some home cooked food might provide comfort to the war ridden, or so she hoped.

She’s always been smart for her age. Most people would consider Marlene a bit of an airhead with a ditsy grin, but you don’t wiggle your way out of as many situations as she has without being exceptionally intelligent. When she was younger, it was easy to see she was nearly as gifted intellectually as her brother was. However, as she got older and made strides towards becoming her own person, she pushed down her “book smart” side. Instead, she applies her intelligence through being clever, manipulating conversations and people without them knowing she’s aware of what she’s doing.

When she was sorted into Hufflepuff, Marlene was thrilled. Most of her family was Ravenclaw and they had some Slytherins and Gryffindors in the mix, but Marlene was the only Hufflepuff. It fit her, she was a bubbly bundle of energy who fell in and out of love with everyone she met. They were loyal and so was Marlene, as long as you could tolerate her ups as much as you could the downs. Everyone praised the snakes and lions, but have you ever met a badger? Sure they’re cute, but they’ll rip your face off the second you try to mess with them or their family.

Marlene is currently a barmaid. Initially, she wanted to be an auror, someone who can openly fight for justice. However, her grades were too low to get her into the auror program, despite her tenacity and constant pleading with ministry officials. Rather than simply take another ministry desk job instead, Marlene went to one of her favorite bars and begged them to hire her. Fortunately, the owner eventually agreed after taking her up on one of her offers to make him a drink. Though it’s far from her dream job, Marlene is content enough in the position for now. There she’s able to work as she pleases, make enough tips for her to get by and meet fascinating people. Since joining the order, it’s also become an amazing opportunity for her to gather intel.

On the MBTI test Marlene is an ESTP. ESTPs are outgoing, enthusiastic and excitable. Blunt, straight-forward risk-takers, they are willing to plunge right into things and get their hands dirty. ESTPs have an uncanny ability to perceive people’s attitudes and motivations. ESTPs use this ability to get what they want out of a situation. Rules and laws are seen as guidelines for behavior, rather than mandates. However, the ESTP tends to have their own strong belief in what’s right and what’s wrong, and will doggedly stick to their principles. The Rules of the Establishment may hold little value to the ESTP, but their own integrity mandates that they will not under any circumstances do something which they feel to be wrong. They typically make things up as they go along, rather than following a plan. They love to have fun, and are fun people to be around. They can sometimes be hurtful to others without being aware of it, as they generally do not know and may not care about the effect their words have on others. It’s not that they don’t care about people, it’s that their decision-making process does not involve taking people’s feelings into account. The ESTP often has trouble in school, especially higher education. The ESTP gets bored with classes in which they feel they gain no useful material which can be used to get things done. The ESTP may be brilliantly intelligent, but school will be a difficult chore for them. ESTPs have a natural abundance of energy and enthusiasm, they get very excited about things, and have the ability to motivate others to excitement and action. They are not usually so good at following through, and might leave those tasks to others.

Marlene is a whopping 5′1″. She’s always been petite and stopped growing around her fourth year. As her friends became long and lean, she remained…well, little. A source of teasing from others and a hidden insecurity, she let her personality speak louder than her size and embodies the idea of “tiny but mighty”. Still, it bothers her more than it should that she has to look up at most people if she wants to look them in the eyes.

Despite her love for them, Marlene’s boggart is not her friends or family dying. Instead, it’s a reflection of herself, all appearance of happiness gone from her face and on her forearm sits the dark mark. It’s worse than death. Beyond anything else, Marlene is terrified of turning her back on her family. She’s always been loyal, it was a trait she carried with pride. The thought, or image rather, of her so blatantly betraying everyone she loved is her greatest fear. On top of the horror, it means she disappointed them, that she went against everything she’d spent years fighting to defend.

-A FEW POTENTIAL PLOT POINTS

Sugar We’re Going Down Swinging - Oh my gosh I’m in love. Before the Marlene skeleton was posted, I knew that if she wasn’t already in it I was going to request she be a member of Aversio. A group that wasn’t seeing progress quickly enough so they decided to go in harder than ever? Yes. Right up Marlene’s alley. I’m incredibly excited to see what her activities in the group cause in her character development, especially if they come in conflict with the Order. Considering the mess of Aversio attacking the Death Eaters attacking the Order all together, being on more than one side makes things complicated and interesting.

I Got Issues, But You’ve Got ‘Em Too. So Give Them All To Me - I’ve always headcanoned that Marlene is linked to some of the death eaters as she grew up a pureblood. While she certainly doesn’t believe that people are inherently good, she does think she can sway the side of the war they’re on. Playing out her relationships with characters that follow the Dark Lord is one of my favorite things to do because, really, Marlene just wants to stop the hate. She doesn’t necessarily want to kill everyone involved (although she will if she has to).

One Hit, Bad For Me, But I Give In So Easily - Addiction is rough. Marlene has always had an addictive personality, meaning she slips into very real, dangerous addiction easily. Especially given her trauma (as indicated below), I see Marlene slipping more quickly into legitimate substance abuse beyond just drinking or taking a handout at a party. Obviously, being as stubborn as she is, she’d try to hide it or insist she was in control. But no one is in control of addiction. It consumes the user and their loved ones without giving anything in return.

I’m At An All Time Low - As someone who suffers from PTSD myself, I’d love to explore that side of Marlene after her kidnapping experience. I imagine her doing her best to shove the trauma down and act as though it doesn’t exist. However, ignoring your emotions doesn’t stop random panic attacks from happening or eliminate night terrors. It’s also a misconception to say individuals suffering from PTSD become victims. Instead, some decide that they’re going to do everything in their power to tear down whatever it was that tried to hurt them.

Not Ready To Make Nice - In general, exploring how Marlene tries to find balance in her life during war is fun. She’s a fighter to the core, but also wants to be a positive light while dealing with an ever-darkening world. Exploring her struggle to maintain her drive for the cause while her friends and family are disappearing around her is always a good time (not for the character, but for me). She’s desperately trying to maintain her positive demeanor, despite her struggles.

IN CHARACTER QUESTIONNAIRE

The following section should be looked at like a survey for your character. Answer them in character and feel free to use gifs. Or, if you’d rather, answer them in third person or OOC without gifs. Answers do not have to be extremely lengthy.

♔ If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it? Feel free to name it:

“A spell that lets you talk to creatures.” There was no hesitation when Marlene answered. “I’d use it to talk to animals, obviously. Don’t underestimate it’s significance,” Crossing her arms over her chest defensively, she pursed her lips. “Think about the uses! You could have a cat just hanging out picking up information for you if you give ‘em some milk after. Or being able to talk to dragons!” Leaning forward with wide eyes and a grin to match, she rambled on.

“Can you imagine being able to talk to dragons? They seem angry all the time, but maybe you could make friends with one and they’d let you ride ‘em. No one I’ve ever heard of had a dragon animagus.” Then, she sat back. “It’s not fair that only one in a trillion people are able to talk to snakes and animagi don’t count cause they just become one animal. With this, you could talk to any animal you wanted and they’d be able to talk back. Best spell ever, honestly. I’d name it…fuck. Um. Maybe animustalkus. Something like that. Or someone who’s better with Latin can name it for me.”

♔ You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one other character and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you’d want with you:

“Can I pick alone? I’d love to go it alone. Tried during school but the groundskeepers were always one step ahead.” There was a ring of bitterness in her voice when Marlene spoke of the groundskeepers, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared. “I can’t? Well that’s no fun. Not Marcus, he’d be too insistent on going back to the school with a stick up his ass the whole time. Maybe Caradoc or Dirk, they’re alright blokes. Or maybe,” Suddenly, her head snapped up.

“Dorcas. I’d bring Dorcas along. We’d kick so much ass in that forest together. As for an item,” She trailed off for a moment, her eyes going to the ceiling while twirling a curl around her finger. When she focused again, she was grinning. “A muggle record player, so we could listen to rock while we explored. Can you imagine it? Someone should make a movie or write a book about this.” Clearing her throat, she did her best radio voice, “Two women go into the forest alone at night. The forest…is forbidden. With them they only have a wand and a record player. It may get messy but one thing is certain: they’re going to have a blast.” She finished, before breaking into a fit of giggles at her own shit humor.

♔ What kinds of decisions are the most difficult for you to make?

“Uhmm,” Chewing on her bottom lip, the blonde’s brows furrowed and she stared down at her hands. “Well, everyone’s always saying I don’t think before I do stuff, so I don’t make that many decisions in the first place.” She said with a laugh, ruffling a hand through her hair. “But, I guess if you were to ask something like ‘if you had to save your mum or dad, who would you choose’, that’d be a tough decision. I don’t think I could make it.”

The crease between her brows disappeared as she straightened up and grinned. “So, that. Choices to do with family. Those are really hard to make. I don’t want to upset them, y’know? I mean, I do, but never on purpose…okay, rarely on purpose.” Her grin faded away, the line between her brows reappearing. It was an expression she was becoming more familiar with as of late: worry. “I wouldn’t want to make any decisions that’d hurt my family.”

♔ What is one thing you would never want said about you?

Rolling her eyes, Marlene leaned back in her chair. “Nothing. Honestly, if you spend your life worrying about what people might say about you, you’re never going to have the chance to live.” She chided with a shake of her head. “I don’t care. Let them say what they’d like. If it’s the truth, that’s that. If not, who cares?”

Marlene would never want to be called a traitor, even in jest. It’s too real of a possibility and something she’s still insecure about. She’s loyal, that’s her Hufflepuff thing and she takes great pride in it. Since the war begun, she’s seen how easy it is for people to turn their backs on friends and family. Marlene never wants to be like those people and would loathe for someone to ever refer to her as such. Unless they’re calling her a blood traitor, that she’s entirely fine with.

WRITING SAMPLE

Note: This is actually a drabble from an ask meme “A situation where our characters kiss” from a past RP. I think it sums up a lot of Marlene and how I portray her and is one of my favorite pieces. If you’d prefer something tailored specifically to this RP, please let me know and I’d be more than happy to write something up.

Marlene absolutely positively with all of her heart and soul hated this. Her family had “broken away” from the other pureblood beliefs and yet there she sat, right in the middle of what must have been two dozen pure blood families. She wanted to scream, to rip her hair out and thrash the stupid mansion they had decided to hold the bloody cult gathering in. Most of the adults, and especially their children, glowered at where she was seated, half under the table with her arms tightly across her chest. And she scowled right back, meeting them eye for eye until they broke away to go spew shit at someone else who treated their words like gold.

She hadn’t realized she was literally snarling under her breath until the shuffling of clothing sounded from next to her when someone sat down. Like hell Marlene was going to spend the rest of her night breathing in the fumes from some rotten perfume or cologne. Her stance should have been enough message that she didn’t want company. Whipping her head around, more than ready to give them a piece of her mind, Marlene stopped herself before a sound could escape when she met Peter Pettigrew smiling meekly back at her. Letting out a sigh of pure relief, Marlene dropped back with a groan and rolled her head onto his shoulder.

“Oh thank the gods you’re here, do you want to bail with me? Please tell me you want to bail with me.” She breathed out quickly, looking up at him with her best impression of puppy dog eyes. When he nodded in response, Marlene was standing in a heartbeat, not giving Peter any chance speak before she was trying to pull him through the crowd of people. Freedom. She would finally be able to breathe air that wasn’t choked full of egocentricity and narcissism. As melodramatic as it would have sounded, the thought of getting away was pure paradise for Marlene and they were so close, so close to escaping when a thin figure stepped in their path.

Marlene could have sworn she felt Peter laughing at her choked back sob. She didn’t even remember who this woman was or why she was asking how their year was going and even more so, Marlene didn’t care. It was a miracle she hadn’t run off already. She was trying to be good. But from the corner of her eye, she caught her father’s gaze and the message in his expression was as clear as day. Behave. And who would Marlene McKinnon be if she did anything but the exact opposite. “Is anything new with you, dears?” Who did she think she was, their grandmother? Sure as hell looked like it. Smiling, Marlene shrugged her shoulders lightly and reached back to take Peter’s hand in hers, giving it an affectionate squeeze.

“Well, we’re expecting our first born next year, so we’re quite thrilled about that, aren’t we love?” Marlene could have sworn Peter gagged on his own spit as the woman before them very clearly did with her glass of wine. Batting her eyelashes up at him, Marlene waited for her friend, her one ally in the room, to either back out now or play along with the blonde’s games. Much to her enjoyment, he did the latter, though it was a barely-managed nod rather than full affirmation. But it was good enough. It seemed that Sirius and James really were wearing off on him. “But other than that, the doctor recommended I take it easy and you know my Petey, he’s just been like a mother hen. And here I thought I was the one giving birth.”

Every move Marlene made was exaggerated, making it clear that she was supposed to be telling a joke she thought was brilliant, and she died a little with joy when the woman tried playing along with a broken laugh of her own. “I’m sorry, but we were just headed outside due to a stomach ache. I guess those glasses of wine weren’t such a great idea after all! Now if you’d excuse us, I’d hate to ruin your shoes. But please, feel free to pass along the good news for us!” Marlene chimed, slipping around the woman, her hand tightly clasped with Peter’s while she basked in the look of horror on the stranger’s face.

Not bothering to look back, Marlene finally let out a laugh when they stepped out into a massive garden. Even walking side by side, Marlene didn’t bother releasing his hand, but began to swing it between them, giggling under her breath. “Your family is going to kill me.” Marlene rolled her eyes at that, but caught the edge of humor in the words and grinned up at Peter, shrugging her shoulders slightly. “Maybe. Doesn’t matter though, they’ll forgive it. That’s what families do. Put up with the bratty kids and try to focus on the good ones.” She chimed, coming to a stop at a bench.

While Peter took a seat where any rationally minded person would, on the actual bench, Marlene plopped straight down onto his lap and threw her arms around his neck. Without warning, Marlene took his lips with her own, light and slow. Really, it was a habit most of her friends were probably used to. She liked kissing, liked being physically close to others. There was nothing sexual about it, not to her. It wasn’t about getting the other riled up or turned on, it was just comforting, one of the few ways the blonde found to relax. She needed the affirmation.

And bless his heart, Peter must have felt like indulging her erratic behavior that day. Marlene could have cheered when there was no refusal or rejection to be found in the other. For all she knew they could have been out there for minutes or hours, occasionally breaking into light conversation before their lips would find rhythm with one another again and Marlene let herself sink into the warmth of the hands on her waist and figure far broader than her own before her. Though it was rare, there were times like this when Marlene just let herself be. The hurricane of a girl found her clam in the touch of others.

But all good things must have come to an end for her sooner or later and she groaned when they were interrupted by an intentionally too-loud clearing of a throat from behind her. With a scowl on her face once more, Marlene leaned back from her spot in Peter’s lap and twisted her head until she could smile sarcastically at her brother. “Yes, hello, can I help you or are you just determined to ruin every shred of happiness I can grasp in this cold, cold world?” She drawled, blinking blankly at him. “We’re leaving.” He spoke back and Marlene was half tempted to just cling to Peter and declare that she was never going to leave. Instead, she stood with a dramatic flourish of her dress and stomped over to him before dropping like a dead weight.

Luckily, as much as she wished he didn’t, her brother had good reflexes and grabbed her before hauling her up over his shoulder in a fireman carry. Reaching out dramatically, she called back to Peter while her brother carried her off. “My love! I’ll care for our child until we meet again! Remember me, even in your darkest hours!” From behind some bushes, Marlene could hear Peter’s laugh ring out. It was fine, it was okay. Even stuck in the middle of a quickly brewing war, that made the night worth it.

#marlene mckinnon #hp rp #literate rp #lsrpg #mature rp #accepted app

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