magdalene 'magpie' knox

Face Claim: original art

APPEARANCE


Magpie is quite petite, standing at 5' and looks like she would be knocked over by a pail of water. She is constantly wringing her hands through her black rat's nest that she calls hair, often braided in two long pigtails flanked by other odd braids she makes when anxious. She is almost sickly pale with dark bug eyes that often are red, leaving her in a near constant state of 'was just crying heavily in the bathroom".
Magpie wears a uniform jacket that seems to be one size too big with a tie more resembling a knot than a tie (she tried multiple times before having a breakdown before giving up) When not in her uniform Magpie likes to wear clothes she can hide in, over sized sweaters and hoodies, and worn leggings with numerous holes and tears and boots that are inexplicably a men's size 9 (clearly not hers but she gets dodgy when asked).
She often gravitates toward more a more 'witchy' aesthetic but often gets too self conscious to act on it.
She has a habit of picking up anything she finds so often is wearing numerous pieces of stolen jewelry and other treasures, her favorite being a necklace she made with a baby bird's skull.


PERSONALITY



Magpie, much like her namesake, is a tiny anxious creature that loves shiny things that do not belong to her, just a twitchy anxious disaster of a person. She is desperate for the affection of others and often tries to appear outgoing and charismatic but can really only keep up the charade for 2 minutes before spiraling into an anxious over thinking mess. She feels all her emotions with great intensity swings through panic and calm like a pendulum.
She can be a handful to be around and she's uncomfortably and intimately aware of this fact. Despite all this she at her core is a sweet girl and cares deeply for those she considers friends and would move mountains for anyone to earn her trust. Magpie is not a very big fan of herself and has pretty debilitating self-image issues, seeing herself as a nuisance on good days and a cancerous growth on society on bad days.

Magpie is a bit of a hoarder, finding joy in the small theft of anything she finds pretty, ranging from shiny rocks and jewelry to animal bones. She tries not to intentionally steal from others but usually can't help herself. She is a horrible liar however so panics and runs off if she's caught in the act or called out on it. The theft is wholly compulsive, sometimes escalating to the point where she goes into a dissociative state until an item is in her possession.

She is deeply jealous of those with peace alignments and wishes more than anything to be like them.

HISTORY


Magdalene Knox was born into a chaotic family, with an abusive father and a mother who was constantly on the brink. The only person Magdalene was able to rely on was her older brother who, though kind and loving, was battling with some darkness within himself. Life was steady, her father yelled and hit and her mother screamed and cried but her brother was always there to keep her safe so she what did she have to worry? As long as her dear brother was there she would be ok, right? One night she awoke to the sound of a horrible cracking noise that she could never forget. As she left her room to investigate she found her brother beating her father to death. When she closes her eyes she can recall the scene with perfect memory; her father's body twisted and bending unnaturally, the horrible noises he was desperately trying to make through broken teeth and blood, and of course her brother standing over him as if in a trance. In a moment the scene concludes with her brother turning to look at her. He stares at her for an achingly long time before croaking out "Y-You need to leave. They'll be here soon." Despite his cryptic words she felt herself rooted to the spot as tears begun welling up in her eyes, why would she want to leave if her brother wasn't coming with her? "P-Please you have to Magpie, I promise I'll be right behind you." He lied, gripping her shoulders before shoving her away. As Magpie ran from the house she could only remember the sounds of sirens rushing past her and how hard it was to run with so many tears in her eyes.

When Magpie woke up it was bright, much too bright. As her eyes adjusted to lights she realized she was lying in spring up cot surrounded by other kids her age. 'I can't stay here, my brother can't find me here." Was the mantra that ran through her mind as she starting taking any supplies she could carry; clothes, food anything that made the spark in her ignite. She thinks she may of heard someone talking as she slipped though the window "His whole family? How awful."


Since then Magpie stayed on the streets, pick pocketing from absent minded pedestrians, and dreaming one day her brother would return to her. Her food stash was getting low and she no longer had the energy to leave and scrounge. She felt tingles through her body as her vision grew cloudy, she wished she could eat one more sweet bread, they always made her think of her brother. As she felt herself drift off she suddenly heard a voice, "Little Magpie." She thought for a second she may be imagining her brother coming back, what a nice thought to leave on. "Little Magpie don't you wish for more? Don't you want to feed the spark you try to ignore?" Magpie's eyes flitted open and she immediately winced as she tried to comprehend the silhouette in front of her, it certainly wasn't her brother. "Surely you still have life to live." The voice reverberated through her skull, she felt fuzzy. The being reached out a hand and before she realized it she was crying. "I-I do." Her voice cracked, how long had it been since she had spoken? "I do." She reaffirmed in tears as she grabbed the hand.

Since her chance meeting with Famine she has been attending the academy. She still dreams of finding her brother but her devotion to her harbinger as been taking over her priorities (something that causes her a small bit of distress) Magpie is wholly devoted to her Harbinger and views him as no less than her savior and intends to repay him in anyway she can.