STATISTICS

Frankie Drew Markham

FULL NAME

Frank

AKA

AGE

17th November 1974

BIRTHDAY

Bi (often reads as lesbian)

SEXUALITY

TBC

RELATIONSHIP STATUS

Witch (stone/crystal)

SPECIES

w/Gael

RESIDENCE

Ghostwriter

OCCUPATION

PERSONALITY

Frank is a bit of a nerdy stereotype: they are academic, hard-working, driven and were extremely focussed on their studies when in school. It takes their friends to pull them out of that sometimes. They get stressed when they don’t think they're working hard enough, and they almost never thought they were working hard enough at school, even though their marks said otherwise. Since then they have relaxed marginally, but given they're in the first few years of their career they feel like they have a lot to prove. Plus their writing means a lot of time spent on research and interviews before writing. And then writing even on the days when it feels like pulling teeth.

Their laugh pretty much an outright giggle most of the time, which turns to a snort if they laugh especially hard. They're quite an introvert and sometimes people get too much for them, but a lot of the time they relax around their closest friends and get energy from the group. Once you've gained their trust and friendship it can be hard to shut them up. They can be sweet and silly, but it can be hard for people they aren't close to to see. They once appeared pretty straight-laced to many, particularly any teachers/lecturers, but their choices of appearance changed that rather. Their friends have always known the difference. Unfortunately a lot of those got left behind in the UK so newer connections are slowly being built.

Sometimes they use their magic as a source of strength and comfort in difficult situations and they can be found rubbing a rock keychain or a crystal necklace to draw the power from it.

APPEARANCE

They are a little under average height for someone AFAB (5’4”) and feel like they're surrounded by giraffes on a regular basis. They've got short, dark brown hair that they have been colouring for summer holidays since they were 14. These days they change the colour every month or two, mostly sticking to dark jewel tones that will take without too much bleach, but once in a while they will choose something really bright.

They are most comfortable in casual clothes and tend to wear trousers far more than skirts. Or sometimes trousers so wide they look like skirts. The major exception to this is, weirdly, things that look like Victorian/Edwardian walking skirts: high waisted, floor length, voluminous and usually from heavier fabrics. Their choice of top swings between boxy and more form fitting and often has a grunge/punk vibe. Band shirts are common, as are ripped jeans and a leather jacket. But they can (and very occasionally do) know how to dress in a more feminine manner and apply makeup. They just have to have a really good incentive or really be in the mood. They will, however, get really frustrated by the praise they get for this display of ‘being a proper young lady’ from certain quarters (often read: their mum). If they wear make up more generally it tends to be restricted to heavy black eyeliner. Lip balm on the other hand they use lots of and they have a couple that are lightly tinted.

They run their hands through their hair a lot when they're researching/stressed and it gets kinda lank and messy as a result, despite any product they put in it. They also get spectacular bedhead.

While they do have a visible chest at times they have had reduction surgery (not flat-chest top surgery) and sometimes wear a binder, it all depends on their comfort levels on a given day. Some days they also feel like wearing something to enhance their chest.

Frankie regularly wears one or more necklaces or other pieces of jewellery with rock or crystal setting, generally these seem inexpensive. They are also liable to pull a rock or crystal from their bag or pocket in times of need.

HISTORY

Frankie Drew Markham was born at Wycombe Hospital, Buckinghamshire to Sophia Vivian Markham (now 51) and Joshua Markham (now 53) in 1974. The pair had first met at university, although not become a couple until after Joshua had left. They were married for five years before Frankie's birth so they could both advance in their careers.

Up until Frankie's birth (they had a different birth name) Sophia was a practicing solicitor (lawyer), and Joshua had begun working at a national distribution company on his track to management. While Joshua continued this path and at the current time is a regional manager (who likes to get his hands dirty when he can, Sophia took the decision to be a stay at home parent.

The family has no known magic and indeed Frankie didn't know they were a witch for many years. As the child of a pushy and social climbing parent (mostly Sophia who has a poorer background and some embarrassment about her family) it is probably a blessing that Frankie has always been academically gifted in most areas. They were sent to a prep school in the local area, and then passed the exams to attend the Grammar School in nearby Marlow. Sophia loved to tell people it is over 350 years old. And indeed it was based around a rather old building with many traditional British aspects like school houses, uniform and even a Latin motto.

Frankie has always been a curious and academic person, with enough interest in their subjects to do well in most things. Their major downfall is languages and despite over five years of French education (starting in prep school) they always struggled, especially with pronunciation and all the dropped letters and false friends words. They did scrape through a passing grade, but it was a near-run thing. After GCSE that got promptly dropped in favour of the more unusual topics the school offered.

A combination of the high attaining school and more and less subtle nudging from their mum lead to them applying to Oxford University. For their mum it was probably the prestige of the location, for Frankie it seemed like a good move to get away from their parents as well as continuing with a challenging and interesting course. Following a test and interview they were indeed accepted to Lincoln College, Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics & Economics.

For Frankie Oxford was almost where they felt their life really began. Especially the sort of life they wanted to live moving forwards. In secondary school they had begun to experiment with their appearance, never having been truly comfortable with the feminine expectations which were placed on them. Skirts weren't really their preference, and being in the first intake of girls rather set the cohort apart for special treatment which Frankie never appreciated, and would have preferred to be part of a broad category of 'pupils' instead of 'girls'. It would take rather more time, until midway through Oxford, that they read about third gender or additional gender options found in other countries and started to recognise that difference in themself.

Oxford was also where they discovered they are a witch. They had long had the habit of collecting special stones or rocks, mostly from holidays they went on with family. One in particular, which was smooth and texturally pleasing, they often sat rubbing with a thumb and by Oxford did so habitually as a source of comfort. However their first year tutor approached them in second term and asked about their magic. It seemed Frankie had been instinctually storing power in their rocks. In this case comfort, but upon discussion others held determination, minor protection, focus, and other wells of enhancement. Their tutor quietly introduced them to a coven of witches at Oxford, effectively an unofficial student society supported by sympathetic staff and locals. It was through this group that Frankie started to first use their magic on purpose. They now find it hilarious that for someone who doesn't ping highly on the feminine scale they practice magic in a way that it is often thought of (by non witches) as girly.

After Oxford Frankie's mum expected them to go into the sort of serious profession or high attainment field she could brag about. Frankie was far more concerned with their own happiness and getting away from an increasingly unsupportive environment at home. Instead they moved to London after a final intensive magic course organised by their Oxford contacts, and on the recommendation of a tutor who had seen their ability to mimic other people's speech and writing styles (aka an excellent code switcher) they took a trial as a ghost writer. It combined their interest in research, abilities to mimic others, and being exactly the sort of being known that their mum can't brag about. Despite it being nothing like the had imagined their life to be they found it suited them and they are good at it.

They started with some more minor celebrities, but after they impressed with the way they handled someone coming out as an air elemental and the care they took, celebrities who wanted to include their supernatural identities in their autobiographies started requesting their services. They always make sure to tailor their work to the individuals and while sometimes they work from available materials they prefer to interview the people. Last year their publisher asked them to work in the USA for the first time. For a client now based in New York.

They initially lived in a terrible apartment in New York, but when they heard about the reputation of Tarrytown and how it was the opposite of the oppressive environment they grew up in they started looking for somewhere to live in the area, ending up in Sleepy Hollow. Fully committed to living in the US, especially since New York and its good libraries were close by, Frankie is working on their second project for a US-based celeb. And then they discovered the Lighthouse Archives. And the various queer-friendly hangouts and it cemented their decision to move away from a big city again. It was so unlike the small town they had known in a commuter belt.

Until it wasn't.

Unfortunately at the end of 2000 they experienced some major transphobia from a relative of their roommate who came to pick them up so they could road trip home for the holidays. Until that point the roommate had seemed neutral on the topic and Frankie was taken aback given the reputation of the area. When the roomie returned they talked to her, and she at first dismissed Frankie's concerns, but then made several comments which let Frankie know they needed to get out of that house as soon as possible. Between the local forums and the community board at the Copper Kettle (a favourite hangout for when they want to write in peace) Frankie found themself set up with a new selkie roommate far sooner than they expected. They know Gael a little from time spent in the Archives researching both for their paid work and the side project they periodically pick away at, but had never expected to end up living with him.

17th November 1974 - Born, Bucks
Lives - Bourne End, Prep school - Herries, Cookham
1986-1993 Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, Marlow, Bucks, A levels in Maths, Economics, and History
1993-1996 - BA Hons, Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE), Oxford.
Summer 1996 - Private magical intensive
October 1996 - Jan 2000 - Ghostwriter based in London
March 2000 - Moved to Sleepy Hollow, NY for first US-UK deal
Jan 2001 - Moved to Tarrytown, NY

	_markham 2025-03-23 07:18 pm UTC (link)
	Magic tutor circle Kathy - disdainful of illusion due to bad experience a few years older than F Dinah - Older, fount of wisdom and happy to share knowledge (Reply to this)

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