Chris Motionless first discovered the all-girl metal band, Tag, You're It when they were all on Warped Tour together and he started up a conversation with their drummer, Reed. After discovering that all of the members are female and getting to talk...
Hey, everyone! Welcome to the Behind the Scenes chapter of "Come For Me" where I tell you hidden secrets about the story, the characters, the writing process and more!
I told you all that Mara, Hunter, Reed and Alice are all based off of people I know in real life. Allow me to give you a bit more insight on that. To protect their identities and my own, I won't be saying any of their actual names though.
Mara: Mara is based off of a good friend of mine whose name starts with M. It is stated in the story that Mara lived in Puerto Rico for a time, which is where my in-real-life friend based off of her is living right now because her dad is in the army and they got stationed there. I created the character of Mara around this friend's personality and past antics as well as my friendship with her. Even though she's in Puerto Rico, I talk to her almost every day and she'll be back in America in 2018! She's one of my best friends and I am so happy that she was a part of this story. And, before anyone asks about the whole Momma Bear thing...Yes, that is what she calls herself in real life. And yes, she's just as crazy as Momma Mara was portrayed as in this story. And in case you don't believe me...
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Yup. That's her name in my Facebook group chat with her and the girls I based Reed and Alice off of. I don't know how that whole thing got started, but...yeah. That's Mara :) I chose her to be the tour manager because I totally saw her being the band baby sitter and bossing everyone around, but also looking out for and protecting everyone. It just seemed like a good role for her.
Reed: Reed is based off of a good friend of mine whose name starts with R. I've known her since kindergarten and she and I actually had our eleven year "anniversary" in August. She's very fun and sassy and definitely feisty. You know that expression "short people are angry because they're closer to Hell"? That expression very much reigns true in terms of the girl I based Reed off of. She's one of my best friends and knows more about me than most people do. I based Reed's character off of this friend's personality and I wrote about Hunter and Reed's friendship the way my friendship with Reed has always been. I'm really happy she got to be a part of this story. I chose her to be the drummer because when I asked my in-real-life friend what role in the band she wanted to be, she chose the drummer because she's played the drums in real life a few times and felt like that would be a good place for her in Tag, You're It if it were a real band.
Alice: Alice is based off of a good friend of mine whose name starts with A. She is often wearing cat ears. She's fascinated by the thought of killing people - which is why Alice talks about it so much in this story - and will stay by her friends no matter what. She loves Anime and Alice in Wonderland. She's probably the most "goth" out of all of us and is also the most quiet. She also loves cats and books more than she'll ever love people and, yes, has almost completely sworn off dating at all costs. She says she'd be interested in dating women in the future, but in the town that we live in, that's hard to find. I honestly think she'll be fine without dating anyone; she's very independent, which is something we all love about her. I chose her to be the guitar player because she has a guitar that she's actually never learned to play, but has always wanted to, so she decided that that would be a cool role for her in Tag, You're It if it were a real band.
