Your Nickname: Annie!
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: No Yes!
How did you find us and decide to write with us? I've been here for years.
If you have written other characters here: Yeeeep.
If Yes, list them all:
Beatrix Dark, Trent Travis, Columbine Taylor, William Pennyapple, Aglaia Knight, Demetrius Woolfolk, Razzy Chancelier, Leon O. Monroe. That's it. Hahaha.
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary.
Full Character Name: Murphy Fionnlagh Urquhart.
Character Birthday & Age: September 3rd, 1993. Sixteen years old.
City & Country of Birth: Glasgow, Scotland.
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Muggleborn.
House & Year: Gryffindor, fifth year.
Wand: Pink ivory wood, unicorn tail core, supple in strength with a spiraled shaft. Six inches long.
Physical Description:
Murphy Urquhart is a bit interesting in appearance. The girl holds herself without much confidence with her shoulders usually curved and her hands hugging her elbows. Standing at 5'10", she's uncomfortable with her height and finds herself shrinking into chairs and slouching to become shorter. With boney arms and a collarbone that sticks out a bit too far, she reminds herself of a skeleton at some points. Her fingers are long and tend to look like claws with her lengthy nails. Murphy prefers to wear long sleeves to hide away her boney figure, but she isn't afraid to wear short sleeves, either. She's slender, but mostly due to her height and very slow eating (she liked to savor the flavor of food.)
What Murphy likes about her body is that she looks almost androgynous. She is flat-chested with the figure of a twelve year old boy. If it weren't for her hips, hardly anyone would be able to tell she is a girl. Murphy has normal, broad, womanly hips and long legs. She doesn't like them very much, but she doesn't complain... Out loud, at least.
Her hair is cut very short, hardly past her ears, almost like a bowl cut. It's black and thick with bangs that cut right underneath her eyebrows. Her hair makes her look boyish, especially with her very pale, youthful face. Murphy used to don very long, beautiful hair before she cut it all off in a desperate attempt to destroy the girlish glow it gave her. Murphy doesn't like being girlish.
Her eyes are very light blue and always seem to look tired or angry. Her neutral face seems a bit too harsh sometimes, but she doesn't mean for it to be. It's simply the way it looks. Her mouth is in a permanent frown, her eyes give off a look of disdain. Murphy seems like a very rude girl at first, despite how kind she truly is. Her intimidation towards her peers can dishearten them from talking to her. She doesn't exactly mind this at all.
Murphy prefers to wear all black clothes. She's obviously poor, for her clothes are always ragged and splattered with paint. Her clothes tend to be baggy, or cover up her hips to the point that she looks like a boy. She refuses to ever wear a skirt, so she normally wears pants for her uniform. She has been scolded multiple times for her disobedience, but that never stops her. Murphy hates wearing skirts. Her evening wear is always a nice pair of pants and a blouse. She'd rather be dead than show off her legs in public. However, her dorm mates could normally see her lounging in shorts or no pants at all. Murphy enjoys being half naked in her dorm.
If someone comments on how feminine Murphy looks, she seeks out to destroy whatever it is.
Personality Description:
Murphy's personality is tricky.
Fearless and adventurous, Murphy is a true Gryffindor at heart. She can be seen exploring the grounds, the castle, Hogsmeade, or even her home city every chance she gets. As she hasn't much to fear, and she hasn't much to love, she can't help but wonder what her boggart could possibly be. Murphy enjoys taking pictures and painting whatever she sees. She's an incredible artist. She isn't smug about her work, but she isn't afraid to leave it out for her peers to look at. She's a messy painter, so her clothes are always ruined within minutes, but she doesn't mind the stains as she wears black and they don't show up as prominent.
But since Murphy is so fearless, she tends to take giant leaps in order to test herself. Not so much an adrenaline junkie as she's simply fascinated with the bizarre and the morbid. At home, she'll watch scary movies all day long or research serial killers and strange phenomenons at the library. During school, she stocks up on creepy books and reads them all day long. The weirder it is, the more likely Murphy will like it. As it is, she takes interest in seeing other people hurt or even seeing herself hurt. However, Murphy doesn't mention this to anyone. Ever.
Murphy's friends are the more crude, twisted people. If they can get her to laugh, she likes them. And her humor is rather dark. If she were to have another boyfriend, he'd have to adjust to her constant, vile threats and remarks about him. She will tell him she hates him. But truly, if a boy were to actually gain enough of her trust to become her boyfriend, she'd actually rather enjoy him. She'll just test him on a day to day basis.
Murphy hates to touch and be touched. She can cope with holding someone's hand, but kissing, groping, hugging, etc. is completely out of the question. She will physically push away anyone who purposely gets too close to her.
She has an insane amount of disobedience towards everything. She hates doing what she is told and hates following the rules. This is all due to her father's negligence and her dead mother's strictness. She hated her mom and she never gets in trouble at home. Because of this, she's experimented with a few too many things behind her dad's back. Even then, she drinks beer in front of him all the time and he doesn't seem to care. Or perhaps he just doesn't notice.
Her schoolwork is average, despite how intelligent she is. She's completely lazy and procrastinates until the last moment. It's a love/hate relationship between her and her teachers. Murphy just enjoys doing what's fun.
But despite all that, Murphy is a sweetheart. She's a loyal friend and completely trustworthy. She's very quiet, but when she speaks up she has a high, innocent voice that's soft and mumbley. While she may be condescending at times, and will inwardly judge someone terribly, she keeps a kind persona that makes people enjoy being around her. If forced to do a group activity, she'll usually be the fairest and the most caring. She keeps her heart locked up, but she still manages to show it.
History:
To be blunt, Murphy's conception wasn't exactly planned. However, when Brennan Urquhart and Kennedy Sayer learned of their new baby, they were overjoyed. They even got married before Kennedy's parents found out, though they were able to do the math when Murphy was born. Kennedy was thrilled to learn she was having a baby girl, even though she dubbed her with the unisex name "Murphy." It was the perfect family. They were young and in love and they had a beautiful daughter who began to grow to look just like her mother. Just like her. Kennedy dressed Murphy is adorable clothing, and she brushed her wavy hair every day. She was like a living doll.
She was happy to be a mother. Completely excited. Until Murphy began talking.
Murphy was a problem child. She never sat still, never had a care in the world. Kennedy loathed her. Murphy's mother was strict. She had expected to raise a brilliant child who would listen to her and cater to her every whim. Basically, she didn't understand what it was like to be a child because she, herself, had a strict childhood. While Murphy was simply innocent, just liked to play and enjoy herself. So when Kennedy told Murphy to do something, the small thing would respond back with a joyous, "No." Kennedy hated it.
This didn't become much of a problem until Murphy turned seven. It all seemed to just crumble underneath her one day. Murphy had gone off to play outside despite he mother's best efforts to get her to stay inside and do a bit of book work for school. While being her normal, childish self, something hit her that day. That something being her mother's hand.
Kennedy's harshness with Murphy had grown unbearable for the child. She simply wasn't fit to be a mother, she was much too stern and selfish. And while she became rough with the young girl, Murphy's father simply stayed out of the picture. Brennan didn't want to scold his wife, but he didn't want to see his child hurt. But the roughness was never too harmful, though on occasion Murphy would be left with a dark bruise. Pinching, spanking, and ear pulling were mainly the only repercussions. Kennedy hardly slapped Murphy, but when she did, Murphy learned to stay quiet. She still couldn't bear to listen to her mother, but she learned to hold her tongue and keep the monster inside her mother at bay.
Normally, because of her mother, sometimes things would suddenly smash around Murphy. While she thought, at first, it was her mom, she began to notice it was her own doing. She felt like Matilda, the girl from the book she once read. When she was angry, she could make things move, such as vases or jars or even cabinets. Only Murphy was more so afraid than she was interested. She kept her abilities to herself. Though there were a few times where Murphy cried over not understanding herself, she simply settled on the fact that maybe everyone could do it. She was brave. She faced her problems without second thought.
Murphy had plenty of friends during her muggle schooling. She made a few lifelong friends along the way, also. The girl never really took her mother's harshness personally. She was a loner. Murphy didn't need much social interaction to get along. She was fine by herself. Perhaps this was all due to her quiet evenings at home every day.
It wasn't until Murphy got her acceptance letter that Kennedy grew completely disdainful towards the girl. She took the time to purposely degrade her. Considering Murphy had just reached that stage of pubescence, every word uttered by her mother was stinging and hurtful. Namely it was how her mother would consistently tell her that she looked like a boy. Even with her long hair. She was a boy. Just because every girl valued their femininity.
Murphy was sorted into Gryffindor, with the most courageous students of Hogwarts. She enjoyed every moment of being away from her mother. And it was at Hogwarts when she chopped off all her hair to spite the woman. If Kennedy thought Murphy looked like a boy before, her androgyny was profound when she came back home. Kennedy hated her haircut. She continued to find other ways to blemish Murphy's spirit.
Much to Murphy's luck, Kennedy's death was rather quick and emotionless. She had been in a car crash with Murphy's father while she was attending her third year of school. Kennedy had been in the driver's seat, and another car had collided into her side of the car (the driver of the other car had a heart attack and no longer had control of the wheel.) While Kennedy died on impact, Brennan had major injuries that made him incapable of doing any heavy work. Brennan began working at a supermarket as a cashier in order to continue the cash flow.
Murphy didn't know what to say or do. Despite everything the woman did to her, she was shaken by the loss. She became completely reserved, only speaking when spoken to.
It was that same year that Murphy became close with Johnathon Rhys. Johnny was one of Murphy's few friends from muggle school, and her next door neighbor. The summer before her fourth year he had grown tall, handsome, and rugged. And Murphy couldn't help but send him glances here and there as they both went out to get the mail for their parents. They'd say their hellos, smile awkwardly, and go back inside. Murphy hadn't ever really grown fond of a guy before, but she knew and trusted Johnny. And besides, he had fabulous, dark hair.
Johnny had been the first to speak up. With a curious gaze and sincere smile, he had asked her simply, "Where do you go, Murphy? To school, I mean?"
She had shrugged and responded quickly, "Strathallan... I go to Strathallan... On scholarship." She felt silly for claiming to go to the nicest boarding school in Scotland. But Johnny had been impressed.
"Well then. At least we'll have the summers together," he had told her. Murphy's face had never blushed a deeper red in her life.
As it were, Johnny hadn't been the best influence on Murphy. He gently coaxed her into doing things she wouldn't have normally done. Say, stealing her father's beer or sneaking out with her friends (or, on some occasions, sneaking them in.) They usually vandalized alleyways or drank and talked. Murphy never liked to trash anything, but she had dabbled in graffiti. Her artwork was impressive, as she had always been creative. The more she let Johnny in, the more comfortable she was with him. The more talkative she became. She had always had that taste of rebelliousness and she had always enjoyed the adventurous. Johnny was seemingly a good match for Murphy. At one point, it was mostly just Johnathon sneaking through her window at night. Johnathon had become her first boyfriend.
Brennan had noticed every so often, but his lack of inspiration and sore muscles made him stay quiet. He had lost the love of his life. And his daughter's resemblance to Kennedy was uncanny, as she looked just as she did when she was young. He had decided that his little girl knew what she was doing. She had always been sweet and mature, so he didn't have much to worry about. Murphy had never gotten into much trouble, and she never got hurt. She was simply a teenager having fun. Murphy had taken to doing the grocery shopping, using whatever money she found in her father's wallet while he napped on the sofa. She mainly bought microwave dinners and heated them up for her and her father each night. Brennan and Murphy had a quiet friendliness with each other. They ate side by side in the living room, watching mindless paranormal and history shows.
Murphy loved her father. Though she had an unbreakable distrust with him, for he had never in his life tried to help the poor girl. He brought in money and kept her company. He was hardly a father.
Upon her fourth year of school, she owled Johnny regularly (Murphy somehow convinced him there was no internet or phone access at the school, though she called him whenever she managed to find a usable phone.) At that point in her life, she felt completely happy. Without a care in the world. She wore feminine clothes and even wore a skirt or two. Johnny's influence in Murphy's life had been just what she needed. Which was why, during winter break, when Murphy came home, her relationship with Johnny had become much closer.
Their intimacy hadn't last long, as they were both awkwardly fumbling about. They hadn't exactly known what they were doing. Murphy had felt a bit uncomfortable with it all, namely the way Johnny acted afterward. He was smug. Like that was all he and Murphy ever did. It was a one time thing. She felt uncomfortable with the thought of it. The poor Johnny pressed her, the more Murphy regretted it. She had let him convince her to do some much, to give him her home and her beer and even her body.
She decided the didn't like Johnny as much as she thought she did. This thought pained her.
Their breakup infuriated Johnathon. She had told him, one spring day when she was back home from school, that she didn't want to see him again. That she no longer felt anything for him. And that feeling she once had wasn't coming back. Obviously, since everything they had done for each other, hateful names spewed out of his mouth. Apparently Murphy needed to get off her back from time to time and she shouldn't have lead him on. According to Johnny, he was a victim and Murphy was a harlot. The rumors spread fast to her friends. The few ones she actually enjoyed stayed, the rest stuck to Johnny's side.
He was charismatic like that.
But Johnny words put a damper of Murphy's perspective of herself. Her mother's words of her looking like a boy, and Johnny's countering words of her being a tramp. Murphy wanted to be nothing. She regretted ever showing affection for the boy. So her clothes became baggy. Her skirts were burned. Murphy became silent, almost mute. Her eyes sunk in to their angry glare.
Murphy wasn't angry. She didn't want revenge. She was simply hurt; disappointed; depressed. Murphy tried her best not to get angry at anyone, and she never wanted to get on anyone's bad side.
At the end of her fifth year of school, Murphy is grown to her fullest. Her quiet disposition keeps her out of trouble, and her art and reading keeps her wandering mind preoccupied.
How Do You Fit Into Your House?:
Murphy is a spot-on Gryffindor. She hasn't much to fear, and she isn't afraid of much. While she keeps her tongue on lock, she will speak her mind if she wants to. If Murphy is angry, she won't back down from whatever is testing her temper. Quick tongued, quick witted, with her wand by her side at all times. Murphy faces anything she's afraid of head on. She hates to be held back by something that frightens her. It's simply something she must conquer. And while she's silent and likes to stay out of the picture, if someone is being harassed, her wand is ready and her mother's stern voice escapes her lips. She hates to see someone experiencing emotional pain. She does everything she can to help a person. Murphy is loyal to her friends, never stabbing them in the back and she keeps secrets like a young girl's diary. Gryffindor is the house for her.
Writing Sample:
Lalalala.
Sum up your character in one paragraph:
In short, Murphy is a tall, pale, quiet teenager. She's brave, but controlled. She's artistic and proud of her work. She lacks confidence with her body, but she's confident with herself. While she has had problems in her past that still haunt her, including the death of her mother, she trudges on and pushes them into the back of her mind. Murphy tries her best to look unfeminine and sexless. She's a very reserved person with a dark sense of humor and a kind heart. She prefers the cruder people as her friends, and isn't very friendly to those who wish to be intimate with her. Murphy has a few bad morals, but nothing to truly harm herself. Sneaking out to explore is her main problem. She enjoys the freedom of her dorm room and she likes the utterly bizarre. A typical, teenage weirdo.
Murphy Urquhart: Sixth Year Gryffindor