FULL NAME
Keith Zetler | "Keith, just Keith. What's with that look? It's just a name."
NICKNAMES
None in particular. | "Call me whatever. As long as I'm aware it's me you're referring to. Because, honestly? I couldn't care less."
AGE
27 | "Yes, I am."
HOMETOWN
Tucson, Arizona | "Pronounced TOO-sawn, ladies and gentlemen, TOO-sawn. Not TUX-on."
SEXUALITY
Straight. Borderline asexual, butā¦straight. | "It's hardly any of your business, anyway."
ROLE
Rumor-maker | "To my eternal humiliation. What has the world come to, when 'gossipmonger' is a legitimate occupation?"
COVER JOB
Music composer | "You know there's something wrong when you're in it for the cover job, and not the actual one."
PERSONALITY
"Yes, and hello. Could you please get out of my breathing space, now?"
Keith is one of the most sullen, cynical introverts you will ever meet. You know those quiet, withdrawn people who seem cold but are actually just shy and socially awkward? Yeah, well, Keith's not one of them. If he seems reserved to you, it's not because he's bashful or anything stupid like that, it's because you genuinely piss him off. He is, in short, a raging misanthropist. He just doesn't overtly express it, so instead of "I hate the world" vibes, people tend to get "go away" vibes from him instead.
If you have the misfortune of having to get to know him, you'll find that he's a difficult character to get along with. Acerbic and sharp-tongued, Keith Zetler is by no means a team player. It isn't that he goes around picking fights with people (usually it's the other way around), but his apathetic (and somewhat judgmental) attitude towards anything that doesn't interest him is annoying to say the least. What's more, it's not even subtle. You try to strike up a friendly conversation with this guy, and you can just tell he doesn't want to talk to you.
(Counterintuitively, he smiles a lot. Not the sincere kind, mind youāthey're more of the sarcastic sort of "shut-up-now-or-I'll-make-you" smiles.)
Keith has a terrible memory, regarding people's names. Introduce yourself to him, and he'll shrug and forget your name within thirty seconds. Sometimes less. Music, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. Give him a tune and he'll rattle off the composer and title like nothing, and then maybe throw in the time signature and key signature to boot. It's uncanny.
Virtues? He's dedicated, pragmatic, and willing to work hard. Once he's set his sights on something, he'll pursue it with an almost alarmingly single-minded determination. Stand in his path, and you'll be ripped to shreds. He's also creativeāhas to be, really, given his occupation and dream. If his rumor-making abilities ever fall flat, it's probably because he's not trying. He views gossip as petty and shallow, anyway.
HISTORY
"Nothing special."
Keith used to care. A little too much, as it later turned out.
As a child, he was that weird kid in the corner who didn't do much but watch others. And as he watched them, he noticed. Noticed how kids who were ostensibly friends giggled cruelly about each other once their backs were turned. Noticed how easily friendships, relationships and promises were forged, and how easily they were broken. Noticed all the whispers and lies that painted people's lives, and how little value truth seemed to hold.
Then his parents divorced, and Keith didn't even see it coming. His father promised he wouldn't leave. His mother promised she still loved his father. They had held hands, declared the entire "till death do us part" thing. And yet, the divorce still happened. Why? Nine year old Keith just didn't understand. Confused and upset, he would puzzle over this question for years to come.
Fast-forward a couple years, and we have Keith getting ready to go to college. Despite monetary issues, he made it into university with the help of a scholarship. And of course, with his admittance into higher level education, there came the question of what he should study. Be a doctor, urged his mother. Become a lawyer, suggested his father (now living on the East Coast). Keith smiled and nodded, took their advice into serious consideration, and then graduated with a bachelor's degree in music composition. Needless to say, his parents were not happy campers. (In his defense, he wasn't trying to be contrary. He just happened to like music a lot.) Then came the hectic days of post-graduation, where he searched high and low for job opportunities but more often than not came up empty-handed. And then Keith Zetler did the stupidest thing he could have done in his situation.
He fell in love.
Yeah, yeah, I know. Super cheesy. But what can I say? It happens. And happen to Keith it didāhe fell, and fell hard. Sarah LeRoux. They were going steady. Like, there was wooing and dating and everything. Laughing and cuddling. Roses and rings. It was during this period of time that Keith's music flourished the most, enriched as it was by his dizzyingly happy state of mind. It was pure emotion. Distilled passion in musical form. And lo and behold, he finally got a job at a recording company. Things were looking up; Keith was even thinking about getting married.
And then he found out about Sarah's affair, and things went downhill from there.
Keith took to drink. But while alcohol was rather nice when you wanted to forget something, it wasn't conducive to maintaining a good work ethic. He was fired.
In the aftermath of the entire fiasco, Keith reached an epiphany of sorts. Bonds, promises, vowsāthey meant nothing. It was his parent's divorce all over again. What use was a promise, when the entire world was built on lies? What use was caring?
So he stopped caring. It helped. He wasn't hurting anymore, at least. The only problem was his musicāit just didn't have the same verve as it did before. And it was hard, trying to support himself when his very means of generating income was crippled. He struggled for a long whileāpride kept him from turning to his parents, who were probably still mad at him anywayāuntil finally, possible salvation came in the form of Robert Mann's nasty little XOXO project. Keith accepted, despite his distaste. Anything to get him on his feet and back into the music industry.