identifying features• Prominent cheek bones and jawline, sunken faced. Hair is naturally a black-brown, but has it treated to be more platinum blonde with darker roots. Athletic build. Has a faded scar on his right cheek.
the personality
likes • Playing Piano, Riding, Working out, Staying Busy, Background Noise
dislikes • Being Alone, Silence, Alcohol, His Family, People's Assumption
strengths • Talented Rider, Observant
weaknesses • Relating to People, Having to Express Emotion
dreams • Of Winning Big in the Equine World
fears • Losing Everything
overall personality • Maddox can be described as blind in one eye - he's reckless, he's impulsive, taking even simple challenges to the extremes. He acts first and questions later, holding no regard for the danger he puts himself or those around him in. He sets his sights on a singular goal and that is that. He is stubborn, foolish, aggressive and prideful - and some might even call him egotistical. He outwardly is all of these things as well as cold, harsh, and unforgiving making him quite difficult to stand to be around.
But if you can stick around long enough, you come to find that he is just emotionally unavailable. He has difficulty expressing any kind of meaningful emotion, having always repressed and pushed his own feelings about things aside. He is a jerk, but a broken one. He is more content to sit back and watch the room, observing every little thing going on.
the history
father • Harvey Kellan Black, 49, Laborer
mother • Mallory Piper Black, 47, Stay at Home Mother
siblings • Sloan - [Older Sister, Deceased]
important people • Sandra & Bruce Rhodes [Adoption Parents]
hometown • York, England
overall history • [Warning - Physical/Emotional Abuse]
Maddox was the surprise child that neither parent wanted but were legally shackled with. His early years, not that he recalls much of it, was a very one sided, unfair business. His mother, whilst caring enough, elected to put more time into her daughter - to play and laugh and simply enjoy everything while Maddox got nothing in turn.
Even when he started school, he remembered only that his sister got all of the attention when they turned up and once ushered through the gates, he was left alone. His first day of school was overwhelming to say the least, and he can remember going home early with his mother scolding him to no end over the inconvenience. As life progressed the more Maddox grew angry over his sister. He was forgotten at school numerous times, and never saw his parents once attend for any of his awards or accomplishments in school, instead being told they were too busy to attend.
At seven, he attacked his older sister after she spent all of the lunch break teasing him to no end. Whilst Sloan was not truly hurt outside from some hair pulling and slapping, Maddox learnt his parents wrath when he got home. His mother laid into him the second they were inside, leaving him more than scared and hurt, told to stand in the corner. And when his father came home he was told to tell his father about his day and what he'd done - only to receive another harsh belting.
Maddox was often subject to in-home punishments for even the most minor of things, his parents finding anything to scold him for and bring out a belt or cord to strike him with. Even just breathing too loud was punishable. They continued to remind him how much better his sister was, how she was perfect and he was not. How he was the mistake and how they'd wished time and again they could've just abandoned him at any point and that he had to be grateful for even living in the first place.
Ranting and raving, he slowly became numb to their words but never the pain. Instead of pleading, he just let it happen and did his best not to cry in front of them. The tipping point was when he was eleven years old. His sister had been hit by a car whilst they were walking home, and when he was delivered shaking to their door step, somehow Maddox knew something was going to happen to himself. His parents spoke to the officers, his mother dragging him to the kitchen to be dealt with. He doesn't remember to much, only that he'd made some sort of noise and the officers were taking him away from the house. A couple hours in hospital and eight stitches later, Maddox was put into emergency care. Specialist officers spoke to him, and quietly, he told them about all the times his parents had been cruel to him.
Several weeks later he was fostered into Sandra and Bruce Rhodes' home in Hickstead. They welcomed Maddox into their life and did all they could to help him get over the trauma of his biological family but they were often met by his cold, distant eyes. Even when he began to go through high-school, he was outcast - that strange kid with the dead eyes. He never really engaged or spoke much in the presence of anyone other than his adoptive parents, and even then, his answers were short and precise.
He began to come out of his shell a little more around the age of sixteen, falling in love with music and then with horses after one of the other girls in the Rhodes' home encouraged him to take on the sport. Finding something of a calling, his adoptive parents were over the moon and encouraged him to do both. Between keeping up in school, learning to play piano and riding horses, everything started to turn up and go in the right direction for him. He was getting the love and attention he needed, all that he could ever wish for but he never once showed how happy he was.
He tried to explain it, how he was happy but he didn't know how to express it but it always just seemed to go over his adoptive parents heads. They couldn't fathom why he wouldn't laugh or smile or even cry in front of them - if he ever did. He continued into college with music, but didn't finish up or major in it once he'd gotten a spot on the competitive riding team. He rode for the school, and eventually got the job offer to ride for a better off stable - so he took it. Packed up his bags and went with his parents blessing.
From then on at nineteen, Maddox rode his way through life with confidence and success with his bitchy mare - Dreamer, though like all good things, it came to a shattering halt. At twenty-five, Dreamer passed from a sudden and unexplainable heart-attack in the pasture over night, leaving Maddox without a horse to ride. He showed no emotion at the stable, listening to the snide comments about how cold and uncaring he was by the other riders, how heartless he was. And that was the straw to break his contract - barging into the office with a scowl and told his boss he was done with this place. He made sure to get a lock of his mare's mane before she was taken away, packed his bags and moved back to Hickstead on the next train home.
He briefly stayed with his adoptive parents until he had his living arrangement figured out before moving into a tiny place in town for good rent. He stayed out of the saddle for a few months, avoiding all media and those who reported on it - he didn't want to deal with the questions everyone had, having to explain the sudden leave of absence from the show ring.
Now he's getting back into it, a new horse, a new start. He still wants his fame in the ring, to be know no matter what.
Notes:
- Has a nervous/anxious tell; his left eye and brow will start to twitch.
- Is a huge risk taker when riding.
the role player
alias • BlackJack, Jac
age • Mid 20s
other characters • .. .... .. .... ....
