Description

Name: Taggart Broderick
Nickname: Tag
Age: 21
Role: Drummer


Appearance: Tall and somewhat lanky, Tag knows his genes have granted him the luck of being attractive to most people - his every move exudes that knowledge. He prefers to keep his naturally raven black hair long, though he is fairly often taken by wild impulse to dye parts of it random colours or chop sections of it off completely. This leads to an erratic look which, in turn, suits him. His favourite colours for dying tend to be bright and perky, such as neon green, fuchsia, brilliant azure, or other pastels. While thin, the loose-fitting clothing he prefers tends to hide the fact that he is rather well-defined and strong. This serves him well when he feels the need to get punchy, as most people don't believe him capable of much power.

Both of his ears and his left eyebrow are pierced, and he has a small tattoo at the base of his spine which very few people know about, as it reminds of something he'd rather leave forgotten. He prefers darker colours for his clothing, and has a flair for adding strange but tasteful accessories such as scarves, hats, and bangles.

Personality

Personality: Tag's exact personality is hard to pin down. He's something of a wild card, and is generally quite unpredictable - and he seems to enjoy that. He is usually calm to a fault, to the point of seeming cold to those that do not know him well enough. Taggart also has a penchant for hitting on anyone that catches his eye, and as a result he is becoming renowned in the celebrity-watching circles for always having a different girl - or even a guy - on his arm. When he wishes, he can become debonair and charming, silver-tongued and very smooth. He seems to have a knack for always knowing the right thing to say to people.

Barring that, when he is alone with his friends, Tag's demeanor changes drastically. He is vocal and opinionated, and while sometimes he can be abrasive or frustrating, his stubbornness is prevalent in everything - most notably his tenacity to that which he finds important, and his loyalty to his friends. He is viciously protective to the point of aggression, and will defend what is his with tooth and nail. Granted, while sometimes this can be as vital as his friends' sense of self-worth, other times it happens to be his lunch.

And yet, neither of these does justice to the complicated aura surrounding this young man. To a few - very few - people, Taggart has let all his defenses down, mostly for only brief moments, to show there is actually a gentle soul beneath the devil-may-care facade. His best friend Kenzi has had the (mis)fortune of seeing this side of Tag a few times, most notably when his mom passed away a few years ago. Seeing a softer side to this wild rogue might be unnerving to some, but it only brought the two closer together. Which is good, because - as Tag regularly reminds him - if it didn't, he'd be forced to kill Kenzi to keep his secret. Naturally.

Likes: Dancing, flirting, easy thrills, adrenaline, music, poetry, dragonflies, metrosexuality, large houses, being flippant.

Dislikes: Ambiguity, being alone, spirituality, liars, large feral animals, hospitals, total darkness, Frank Sinatra, strangers who call him by his full first name, people who dress like Elvis.

Dreams: If you asked him, he would say he didn't have any. This is somewhat true - he is definitely not very ambitious when it comes to the band or his life. While he seems dedicated only to the next song, the next beer, or the next hottie, his real aspirations lie within protecting the ideals and the people he holds dear. He merely hasn't found many of either, yet.

Fears: Most of the time, Tag certainly seems fearless. He has lost so much in his past that he has become numb to most kinds of emotional pain. You would think this makes him resilient towards it, but it is in fact what he fears most; to become so jaded and cynical that he no longer feels anything.

Quirks: Nearly everything about him is quirky, but some of his most odd behaviours and hang-ups include his undying fondness for peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, the love-hate relationship he has with scary movies (he swears he loves them, but they creep him the hell out and tend to leave him jittery and nervous for a day or two), and his utter lack of compassion for anything religious or spiritual.

History

History: Tag grew up mostly on his own. With his father MIA from all memory, his mother tried to take care of him on her own. She worked as a nurse, and between the double-shifts she took to support herself and Tag, and the time she spent at bars feeding her alcoholism, Tag was more or less left to his own devices. He never resented his mother, but he never truly loved her, either. Rejecting the responsibility forcibly hoisted upon him, Tag instead rebelled, and spent most of his time harassing neighbours, chasing stray cats, and generally being a nuisance.

He met Kenzie when he was 10 and Kenzie was 9. To him, the boy was the picture of childhood innocence, and to Kenzie, Tag was the most grown-up person he could relate to, since they were so close in age. They made fast friends and have remained such. They never spent heaps of time together before Vanilla Dream, but Tag was there when Kenzie needed someone to stand up to bullies at school, or to climb up on the roof of the library to retrieve a lost ball, or to sneak him out of detention. When Kenzie's brother committed suicide, Tag convinced himself it was his fault - that he could have done something to stop it, though he would never admit it openly. Since then, Tag has secretly promised himself he will stand between Kenzie and anything that would harm him.

When he was 15, Tag saw a drum set in the window of a music store, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. He took the first free lesson offered by the store, but couldn't pay for more, so instead he sneaked in every chance he could and wailed on the drums until the owner forcibly pulled him off. Eventually, he saved up (and stole) what he thought was enough cash to buy a beginner's kit. The owner was so happy to see the back of him, he gave the boy the most durable set he had at a radical discount. Random banging quickly became boring when there was no one to annoy, so Tag started practicing in earnest, and a drummer was born.

When Kenzie asked him to join Vanilla Dream, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to be both a real drummer, and to spend more time with Kenzie - the only real friend he had. Against his better judgment, he quickly grew close to the other band members as well. Tag likes being the drummer; now that the responsibility of keeping the band together isn't forced upon him, he enjoys it. He will even use it to his advantage outside of the studio, imploring the boys to "listen to their drummer," even if his advice is not the most sound. Though it probably is the most fun.