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<![CDATA[// <![CDATA[ // <![CDATA[ add_to_image_queue('notification_avatar_bv5dhmce9zbf745', 'http://29.media.tumblr.com/avatar_021090bc861d_40.png', 'src'); // ]]]]]]><![CDATA[><![CDATA[> // ]]]]><![CDATA[>]]> ask-henrytownshend replied to your photo: ((Mod: Since there are no asks in my box, here’s a...

Whoa, So wonderful!! How did you draw it there~~ ( =[]=))

It involved agonising twisting of my feet and a pen XD

Why I ship Murphy/Heather

A short, crappy essay by Pikana Chuster AKA Scarlet Fitch mod.

Done by request

As a rabid fangirl, I’m inclined to ship. Some of you may know that I have a habit of shipping everyone with everyone else with no exceptions: most prevalent in the Super Smash Brothers, Pokemon and -more recently- the Silent Hill archives. However, despite my support of all pairings whether crack, canon, het, yaoi or yuri, I do show favoritism to certain shippings. One particular pairing I’ve invented is Murphy Pendleton / Cheryl “Heather” Mason from Silent Hill Downpour and Silent Hill 3 respectively. (For simplicity’s sake, I will refer to Cheryl as Heather for the rest of the article so we don’t get confused with Shattered memories Cheryl or Silent hill 1 Cheryl.) The pairings has received generally positive feedback on both tumblr and deviantart due to its creativity but is still more obscure then some of the more popular non-canon ships such as Murphy/Henry or Heather/Alex. Through hotness factor, adaptability and personality traits, I’m here to reason why I ship this as my Silent Hill crossover OTP (one true pairing) and hopefully bring a bit more popularity to it. Visually, a couple must be attractive for people to draw or video a pairing. It must be able to capture people and make them react either ‘OMGWTFBBQ?!’ or ‘Hey, this is cute/sexy/nice! The Murphy/Heather pairing can make you do both. This pairing can look insane simply because of the age difference. Regardless of if you’re tolerant of age-difference pairings (as well as taboo/pedophillia) or not, you can’t deny that there’s a big gap between the two. While Murphy hasn’t been officially aged, he has been placed to be between late twenties to late thirties. I’ve always assumed he was approximately ten years older then Henry Townshend, making him roughly thirty-eight. Heather is seventeen (physically) which could offset some people initially. Alternatively Heather can also be regarded as twenty-four (adding Cheryl’s seven years), thirty-one (adding Alessa’s fourteen years to Heather) or thirty-eight (adding both Alessa and Cheryl). Although visually this doesn’t change anything, it may be easier on the brain to think that Heather is potentially the same age as Murphy. You know... lessens the squick. Proportionately, if we use the heights given to us in a certain Silent Hill Downpour ending, Heather would be roughly a forehead shorter then Murphy. Some people like me enjoy couples without a massive height difference because it implies there is a power balance in the relationship (although that isn’t always the case.) Along with Alex, these two characters have my favourite designs. Heather is beautiful as she doesn’t scream sexuality like most female protagonists but is a clash of both masculine and feminine traits. In fact, she’s one of the most realistic video game designs I’ve seen, being a teenage girl with reasonable proportions and facial “imperfections” such as freckles. Murphy, too, isn’t a flawless model. Unlike previous characters in the series, he has a scar on his face and darker shadows and lines making him look older and more gritty- suitable for a person in his position. Since Heather is both visually and mentally mature, albeit a little hot-headed, she doesn’t look completely out of place when she stands near Murphy. Overall, I find that Murphy’s rugged/prisoner look goes well with Heather’s physical design. I just really like looking at this pairing- hence my fanart/photo manipulations. As fun as they are, in this essay, I will not go into AUs (Alternate universes) simply so I don’t waste too much time. That means I will show how well this couple can work in-canon Pre and post-game. In-universe crossovers can be tricker then complete crack or crossover pairings because you have to take into account timelines. Thankfully, Murphy hasn’t been given a distinct timeline which makes him very easy to slot in with Heather’s set universe. Adaptability of a duo means there’s more room for creativity and visualizing. A good part of any shipping is the diversity and trying new things with them: placing them in situations ranging from horrible to sweet to insanely awkward. For example, Heather was a criminal delinquent Pre-Silent Hill 3. Sometimes, in jubi, you are taken to real prisons in an attempt to scare you out of crime. Since in-game, we are never told why Heather turned away from crime, maybe she could have met Murphy in prison. For a post-game example, I can see Murphy moving to the same town as Heather (there are only three cities near Silent Hill: Brahms, Portland and Ashfield) and them getting to know each other someway or another. Like most Silent Hill protagonists, large portions of their backstories and post-stories haven’t been touched on. The flexibility of this couple makes it easily available to use and makes it fun to play with. Interesting enough, there is a possibility that Heather and Murphy have met in-game. For those who have gotten the ‘Surprise Ending’, you will have noticed that Heather is in the back cheering with the others. Although this meant to be a shout out to the upcoming HD collection, one could take it that Murphy has met Heather (and James, Mary, Laura and Pyramid Head) before due to him only being surprised at the fact that there was a party. However, as a joke ending, I don’t expect anyone to take this seriously. It’d be a good prompt though. Now, the most important bit, character personalities. There is no such thing as a compatible relationship as individuals react to others in different ways. For any relationship to work, people have to have some ground to bond over. A.K.A some similar traits. Both characters have very sad backstories (which always a plus for any shipper since angst is a very good way for characters to bond.) where each of them had ‘normal lives’ pre-Silent Hill before it was taken away from them. Heather is described as a “normal, carefree girl who loves to shop” and Murphy was a “happy family man” before the death of a loved one causing ruin of their respective families. In either my romantic or platonic head-canons, I always see the two flittering in between a father-daughter bond or a hurt/comfort romantic bond. Neither of them are ‘picture perfect’ characters too. Heather is an ex-smoker and delinquent while Murphy... he was in jail. That’s a record for any Silent Hill protagonist. However, what really made me first think of this couple was, of course, Silent Hill. Both of these two characters’ reasons for being in Silent Hill revolved around revenge. Both Murphy and Heather are good-natured in general but circumstances force them to become similar, hardened servants of vengeance. The difference is Heather was still seeking it out during her adventure and Murphy was paying the price for it during his. I have more head-canons that will come soon that plays on it. While both have the potential to make it on their own (I can still hear some of you tell me that Heather doesn’t need a man. I know, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t want one), both of them hate to be in solitude as shown by Murphy’s resentment in jail and, while wishing to be on her own during the game, Heather’s dependency on her father. Of course, all couples need some dynamics. With Heather, we can either play with her sarcastic and humorous side, her feminine side or her nonchalant, low-tolerant BAMF status the fandom and I love to give her. On Murphy we could either show his hardened-criminal shell or good-natured and soft-spoken side as seen in game. Mix and match them how you like folks. You could portray the two in a father-daughter, sweet, tsundere or antagonistic relationship and still keep them in character. They fit that well together.

Individually and together, I think that these characters are great potentially, visually and mentally. I always wanted to spread my love of these two so... well... here's my chance. If I think of more things, I will add them. If you have questions or accusations, bring them up so I can address anything I’ve missed. Hopefully you all haven’t fallen asleep due to my over-analysis and can try ship this couple with me (or at least understand why I ship what I ship).

Thank you for reading and I bid you adieu!

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Why I ship Murphy/Heather