User Profile

Character Name: Tara Maclay
Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Species: Human
Sexuality: Lesbian
Appearance: Tara is around five feet, five or six inches tall. She has long, straight honey blonde/light brown hair which ends at the bottom of her shoulder blades. The roots are darker brown, and the ends are blonde – the remnants of an ill-advised experiment with bleach during her Freshman year of college. Her wide, blue eyes are deep set and heavily lidded, contributing to her often dreamy expression. She has high, prominent cheekbones, pale skin, a strong nose, and full lips.

Tara's figure is full, though she is not overweight. She tends to prefer a very bohemian and alternative style of clothing, consisting mostly of long skirts and sweaters, and hippie-ish New Age jewelry. Some of her clothing choices seem more appropriate for a Renaissance Fair, though she also likes jeans, long jackets, and tank tops. When she arrives, she is wearing a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a periwinkle, long sleeved v-neck sweater, and her hair is worn loose, rather than put up or tied back.


Personality: Perhaps the most prominent aspects of Tara's personality are her shyness and general social awkwardness. While these traits become less extreme over time, she still maintains a certain degree of social anxiety and vulnerability, especially when faced with a situation or person with which she is unfamiliar. This is compounded by her odd and unconventional sense of humor. While she is an intelligent woman, people tend to not get her, or her jokes, and she is often left feeling stupid and embarrassed. Although at first glance she is a shy girl with a nervous demeanor, Tara is really a very sweet person, who is extremely loyal to those she does make friends with.

Due to her strict upbringing and suffering the early loss of her mother, Tara is unsure of herself. She lacks a stable and positive self-image, and therefore is unable to see why others would want to associate with her. While she is incredibly grateful for the friendships she has, this uncertain sense of self leads her to fear that they will one day 'see the light' and decide to cut ties with her. She is afraid of abandonment and rejection, and sometimes makes bad decisions based on these fears. For example, believing herself to be of demon heritage, she cast a spell to keep her friends from seeing this. The spell went wrong, or perhaps too well, rendering her friends unable to see any demons, which put their lives at considerable risk.

As an empathic person, Tara is able to pick up on peoples' emotions very easily. This makes her vulnerable to strong emotions, particularly anger or aggression, and as a result, she is sometimes overwhelmed by the strong emotional reactions of the people around her. In spite of this, Tara is an incredibly brave and caring person. Perhaps she can be considered more courageous than most of her friends, because her starting point is so low. Over time, she gains the self-confidence and sense of self worth to not let herself be pushed around or taken advantage of, but she never loses sight of the needs and feelings of others; she never stops being a gentle, forgiving person. She stays, for the most part, quietly in the background, always there to comfort or care for a friend in need. Tara has a quiet resolve, and is a calmly determined woman. She does not force her will or opinion on others, and will not let anyone do the same to her.


Abilities: When we are introduced to Tara, the first thing we learn about her is that she is interested in and has some ability in witchcraft. As we get to know more about her, we learn that she has been learning the craft since she was young, and appears to come by this power naturally through her maternal relatives. Her primary skill in combat and when providing assistance to her friends is her considerable magical ability.

Tara is very empathic, able to interpret the emotions of others easily. This is due in part to her ability to read auras, which allows her to know and understand the feeling and motivations of others, a power referred to as “The Sight.” The focus of Tara's powers seem to be related to this empathy, and her magics tend to be more passive in this regard. However, Tara is not limited to passive magic. She is able to cast both offensive and defensive spells, many of which appear to be based in the elements. For example, she is seen casting a defensive fog spell to escape from a pursuing demon, and fire and lightning spells when she is forced to attack. Her offensive spells are not just elementally based, though, as she has the ability to throw a ball of light-based energy, among other things. She also has telekinetic powers, allowing her to move objects that she would not be able to move otherwise, including a set of shelves and a soda machine.

When Tara is seen spellcasting, it is almost always in the context of her helping someone. When her friends get separated after being chased by demons in the night, she projects herself into a summoned ball of light in order to lead them to safety. Tara is very careful with magic, preferring to use it only when there is no other solution. This does not mean she dislikes magic, just that she believes it should not be used frivolously as a show of power. Still, she is very imaginative, and often works to create new and useful spells with ingredients and potions. She is most often seen doing this with Willow, with whom she finds her magic is much more powerful. Together, they create a spell to keep light in a bottle. When the bottle is broken, the room is filled with light.

While in Manhattan, Tara is able to use all her spells, but they are less reliable in terms of power and general effectiveness, and they require her to expend more energy to use. This leaves her unable to cast them as often, at at a greater cost. As for spells which require preparation, she will be unable to cast them unless she can find the necessary ingredients. Her magic use will be limited by both her own beliefs in caution with magic, and because she must be careful not to leave herself exhausted and vulnerable.

Due to her magical training, Classics studies, and years spent helping Buffy and the gang research the latest threat to Sunnydale, Tara is familiar with many ancient languages, and fluent in Latin.

She has been known to resort to weapon combat when absolutely necessary, though this is not something she does often, or particularly well.

Also, she can sing.


Weaknesses: Tara's main weaknesses lie in her lack of self-confidence and her shyness. While these lessen over time, she is still a vulnerable personality and can be easily overwhelmed in intense social situations. At times, these weaknesses verge on crippling, manifesting in a stutter and withdrawn posture. She is capable of feeling very deep and intense emotions, and these are often difficult for her to deal with. Essentially, one of her powers is also a considerable weakness, when she is confronted with an intensely emotional situation.

Her great fear of rejection and loss of friendship sometimes prompts her to make bad decisions which can endanger herself and others. Though she is not inclined to impulsiveness, she is a flawed human being who makes mistakes. She does not make them often, but when she does, they tend to have serious repercussions.

In terms of non-emotion based weaknesses, Tara shies away from technological things, preferring languages and arts to maths and sciences. The network will probably be difficult for her to use, as she does not have great technological aptitude.

She is not a physically gifted fighter, so if she finds herself in a situation in which she cannot fight magically, she will be at a great disadvantage.


Manhattanite or outsider? Outsider


History: Not much of Tara's early life is known canonically, although it can be deduced that her family is from a small town in one of the sparsely populated regions of Northern California. We are told that her mother and maternal grandmother were witches, which lends credence to the assumption that Tara's magical ability is hereditary rather than learned. The men of her family, however, seem to be strictly Christian, and extremely disapproving of the women's magic use. This disapproval and desire for control was so extreme, in fact, that the men of the Maclay family invented a legend, one which stated that the women's magic came from their demon heritage, and that this true demonic form would manifest once the woman turned twenty. It can be inferred, then, that Tara was raised Christian by her father, but taught the magic and Wiccan ways in secret by her mother. Because of this, Tara was incredibly close to her mother, who was a very positive and loving influence.

Apart from her mother, though, Tara's home life seems to have held little warmth. It is strongly implied that her brother, and possibly her father, were physically abusive. We can tell right away from Tara's reactions to their surprise visit on her twentieth birthday that they were very verbally and emotionally abusive. She is terrified to see them, and quickly reverts back to her stuttering and other nervous habits, though by that point she has grown into a much more confident young woman.

When Tara was seventeen, her mother died of what is commonly believed to have been some form of cancer. During her mother's long illness, it is believed that Tara was forced to take on all the 'women's tasks,' such as cooking and cleaning house. Following her mother's death, she went through a brief rebellious phase, staying out all night, being self-destructive, and not obeying the orders of her father and brother. It is assumed that her mother's death, and the resulting rebellion, lead Tara to push for independence. As a result, she applied to UC Sunnydale, and was accepted as a Classics student. It is supposed that, upon her death, Tara's mother willed her a college fund, which she used to pay for part of her tuition, food, and accommodation.

Tara began studying at UC Sunnydale, presumably on at least a partial scholarship, due to lack of financial support from her living relatives, the year she turned eighteen. Being very shy and insecure, Tara did not make many friends, though she did begin attending an on-campus Wicca group, in hopes that she would find more witches like herself. The group was not at all what she was hoping to find, proving to be a bunch of New Age hippie chicks rather than real witches, but she kept up attendance in case someone, like herself, showed up looking for something more. She kept going to meetings even into her sophomore year, and was delighted when a freshman called Willow Rosenberg joined the group and suggested casting spells.

Her life changed from that point on.

When a group of demons called The Gentlemen stole the voices of Sunnydale's entire population, Tara remembered Willow from the Wicca group, and went to find her to try to magically restore speech to the people. Her plan went somewhat awry, as she was chased through the dormitory by the demons on her way to Willow's room. Running into Willow, quite literally, they made their way to a room to hide. The two were able to telekinetically block the door with a soda machine, keeping the demons from following them. The voiceless spellcasting was intense for both of them, and friendship was established instantly.

While the friendship began based on mutual interest in magic, the two soon began to bond over other things as well, with Tara being allowed to attend 'Scooby Meetings.' These were gatherings of Willow's friends (Buffy, Giles, Xander, and Anya) where they would discuss social activities and the latest evil threatening Sunnydale. Tara's relationship with Willow's friends was an amicable one, though there was some awkwardness, especially concerning her relationship with Willow as it progressed beyond simple friendship into a more romantic bond. This awkwardness remained mostly unaddressed, until Willow's ex-boyfriend Oz returned to Sunnydale. With his sudden reappearance, Willow was forced to reevaluate her relationships with both him and Tara, leaving Tara very distressed and convinced that Willow would resume her romantic relationship with Oz. She continued to offer comfort to Willow, stating that the two would remain friends, whatever Willow's decision. This continued contact with Willow ultimately lead to Tara's being attacked by Oz, who was a werewolf, and could smell Willow on her. After much thought, Willow decided that, while part of her would always love Oz, she was now in love with Tara. When Oz left, Willow went to Tara, and their romance became official. Eventually, the romance between Willow and Tara was discovered by the rest of Willow's friends. It was awkward at first, because they didn't really understand Tara, but they accepted her all the same, and she became more involved with the group. She did everything in her power to be useful in the Slayer's fight against evil.

In her third year at UC Sunnydale, things got much more complicated. Tara's family – her father, her brother Donnie, and her cousin Beth – came to Sunnydale the day before her twentieth birthday, intent on taking her home. They claimed that she needed to be removed from school, as her demon side would take over the next day, and only they knew how to control it. They said if she did not go with them, nothing would stop her from hurting the people around her. Because of her fear of the demon part of her and her fear of loss and abandonment, Tara had not told any of her friends – even Willow – about the situation, and instead of revealing her demon heritage, she cast a spell on them to keep them from seeing the demon part of her. The spell does not work quite in the way intended, making her friends unable to see the demons attacking them. Though she is able to lift the spell in time to allow Buffy to kill the demons, Tara's spell put them all in serious danger. This incident serves as more evidence of her family's claims that Tara is dangerous and needs to control her, but when they try to take her, Willow asks her if she really wants to leave. Tara says no, and her father interrupts, trying to force her to leave. The Scoobies object to this, and in the process of arguing with Tara's family, they reveal that the demon myth is just that, a myth, designed to keep the women in line. Tara's family leaves, humiliated, and Tara is able to remain in Sunnydale with her friends. In spite of the fact that they don't really get her, they claimed her as part of their family, and from then on she seems to fit in with them much better. She seems to get along especially well with Buffy's little sister Dawn and Xander's girlfriend, ex-demon Anya, though she does have occasional moments with Giles, Buffy, Xander, and even the vampire Spike.

It is during this year that the gang makes a horrifying discovery. A banished Hell god has made her way to Sunnydale with the intention of killing Dawn in order to open an inter-dimensional portal that will allow her to return home. In her search for the Key that will allow her to return home, the god, Glory, makes a mistake. She believes Tara to be the Key, and when she captures her, Tara sacrifices her sanity to Glory's mystical mind-sucking technique rather than give up Dawn to the mad goddess. Tara's friends band together to look after her in her childlike, nonsensical state, and it is in her insanity that Tara accidentally reveals to Glory that dawn is the Key she needs. When Glory captures Dawn, Buffy and her friends go to the site of the sacrifice and fight the goddess. In the process, Willow is able to reverse Tara's insanity and weaken Glory. The two then join the battle for Dawn, but are unable to stop the opening of the portal that has begun. Buffy then realizes that she is able to sacrifice herself to save her sister and the world, and the group is left to mourn her.

The following year, at the beginning of Tara's final year at UC Sunnydale, she and Willow have moved into Buffy's house and act as surrogate parents for Dawn, whose mother is dead and whose father is irresponsible and unreachable. It is during this year that Tara, Willow, Xander, and Anya devise a plan to raise Buffy from the dead. They believe she may be trapped in some kind of Hell dimension, though it is later revealed that, upon resurrecting her, the group had in fact torn the Slayer from Heaven. Following the spell to raise Buffy, Willow begins to rely more and more on magic, something that puts a heavy strain on her and Tara's relationship. This culminates in Willow casting a spell on Tara to erase Tara's memory of a fight. When Tara finds out about the spell, she stands up for herself (evidence of how much she's grown since her first year of school) and tells Willow she will end the relationship if Willow does not stop using magic so recklessly. Despite her promises, Willow casts another memory spell, putting the group in grave danger. When the spell is broken, Tara stands firm and leaves Willow, moving out of the house she shared with Willow, Dawn, and Buffy, and back into the dorms at UC Sunnydale. As Willow deals with her addiction to magic and its consequences, Tara remains a part of the Scoobies' lives, offering emotional support to both Dawn, for whom she acts as a mother figure, and Buffy, who is emotionally wrecked and vulnerable following her death and resurrection. During this time, Tara proves herself to be an independent woman who will not allow anyone to hurt her or those she cares for, in a way that she had not shown before. She even comes to the rescue at one point when the rest of the gang has been rendered helpless. Eventually, after Willow has proven that she is no longer dependent on magic, they reconcile and gradually build up toward rekindling their romance. One night, following a coffee date with Willow, Tara shows up at the Summers' house, and that night, she and Willow resume their romantic relationship. The following day, one of the villains whose plans Buffy had foiled comes to the house to take revenge on the Slayer. He shoots several times, one bullet hitting Buffy, and another breaking through the glass of Willow's bedroom window.

Canonically, this bullet hits Tara, destroying her spine and killing her almost instantly. However, instead, as soon as the glass shatters the window, Tara is ripped from her own world and finds herself on the island of Manhattan.

This is an RP journal for daisychainrpg played by laulupidu

(Note: A lot of her history isn't given in canon, so I used a lot of head-canon in writing that up. Also, for the purposes of the RP, I reference things that occurred in the books and comics in which she appeared, so as to have a greater basis for characterization.)

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