Hey there, sorry I was so late in responding to this! I wasn't sure what to say at first, other than how very well-timed this was, but I figured eventually that if that's all I had to say, that's enough. This commentary really was very well-timed, as I've had a bit of doubts lately on how much my David stays true to the canon David, so thank you so much for commenting here!
When I started playing David, I never expected him to be as active or popular as he's become. That's probably because Animorphs players period are a pretty rare breed (and if you played David before here on LJ, I think I might have seen your account right before I decided to pick him up!) The idea that players I don't know are reading and enjoying my threads just makes me grin like a total goober, and it really made my day to get this crit. To say I've taken David in directions canon didn't is putting it mildly, so this vote of confidence was a real pick-me-up.
If we ever cross paths on somewhere like SWS or D_M or wherever, I'd love the chance to play with you. Otherwise, I hope David's scenes continue to be interesting and look forward to hearing back from you sometime!
Oh god. Have a wall of text. And a dopey grin.princeratSeptember 23 2011, 06:16:59 UTC
Ah, don't worry about that. I'll stare at things for days myself until I know what to say. Which I did, before commenting that first time. Also, let me apologize for not getting back to this right away, I've been buried in school work.
Actually, no, that wasn't me! I was on IJ back then, not LJ, in a somewhat casual game a couple years back. We had an amazing Marco and Tobias for a bit, which made for top-notch banter. That makes me even happier that there's still more Davids out there. Yep, Animorphs players are extremely rare. Good ones even rarer.
As to your concerns about accuracy, I haven't seen you make any errors that I'm aware of, and I happen to be rereading the series right now. Just finished #22, actually, so it's all pretty fresh.
I know WoG is that he's "just evil." But I honestly don't think there's enough evidence in the text for that. So I don't think you're going in the wrong direction with him at all.
[Here goes a way-too-long wordspew. I have thoughts and emotions, apparently, and now we all have to deal with that.]
He can be a bully, a coward at times, selfish, prejudiced, and he'll do whatever it takes to survive. He's done some bad things. I don't think he's beyond redemption.
Most of the things that they use to show that he's going to be trouble don't quite work. A lot of what he does up to the point where he rampages is something another Animorph has done before, just more extreme to varying degrees.
He kills the crow. That's bad, but what about when Marco was stressed out in wolf spider morph and killed that cockroach? Meanwhile Ax is in the same spider morph, and genuinely disturbed by Marco's behavior.
Marco's suggested robbing banks and using their powers to live the high life more than once. They've all used their powers for personal reasons, and been reckless.
That night when they were cowering behind that brick wall? Jake narrates that they all wanted to scream and cry and surrender. They stay, but only because Elfangor sends them some of his courage. Then throughout the series, it's heavily implied that a major factor of why they each stay in the group is because they'd be worried about what the others think of them, and because they'd miss morphing.
He's not a good person (as evidenced by everything that happens after he starts to rampage), but he's not evil. Evil people don't cry when their parents get taken away to be enslaved. They probably wouldn't care about their pets. He's... off. But I think he can be good, in the right situation. Maybe permanently, given time. Your David is getting there, and it's nice to see. It's nice that it's not sudden, because that would be unrealistic.
And I don't want to give the impression that the Animorphs were really in the wrong or anything. They made a gamble of kindness, like in #19, only this one didn't work out. They've made mistakes, but basically they did everything they felt they had to do, as guided by the essence of who they all are. Same as David.
The Animorphs have a perfect group dynamic. Each personality has a pivotal role in keeping the group together. David doesn't fit. Especially under the circumstances of what happened to him, he's just not the guy who's going to get along with them. As an Animorph, he basically can't exist in that universe without throwing a wrench into everything. Not while the Animorphs are needed and David can get them killed by his need for revenge, not while neither David nor the Animorphs feel safe while the others are around.
[End pointless fanwanking rant.]
Anyway, I'm glad you felt better about it. I'm glad that's helping you keep going. Stuff like this is needed. Because I enjoy it immensely. I'll be willing to fuel your confidence anytime, and you'll keep entertaining me, and it'll be just great. I noticed there's a Rachel! And I noticed she wants to kill him! I'm pretty stoked to see what happens with all that.
I haven't been on D_M in a long time and I've never been on SWS, but if I do venture over there I'd be thrilled to play with you.
When I started playing David, I never expected him to be as active or popular as he's become. That's probably because Animorphs players period are a pretty rare breed (and if you played David before here on LJ, I think I might have seen your account right before I decided to pick him up!) The idea that players I don't know are reading and enjoying my threads just makes me grin like a total goober, and it really made my day to get this crit. To say I've taken David in directions canon didn't is putting it mildly, so this vote of confidence was a real pick-me-up.
If we ever cross paths on somewhere like SWS or D_M or wherever, I'd love the chance to play with you. Otherwise, I hope David's scenes continue to be interesting and look forward to hearing back from you sometime!
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Actually, no, that wasn't me! I was on IJ back then, not LJ, in a somewhat casual game a couple years back. We had an amazing Marco and Tobias for a bit, which made for top-notch banter. That makes me even happier that there's still more Davids out there. Yep, Animorphs players are extremely rare. Good ones even rarer.
As to your concerns about accuracy, I haven't seen you make any errors that I'm aware of, and I happen to be rereading the series right now. Just finished #22, actually, so it's all pretty fresh.
I know WoG is that he's "just evil." But I honestly don't think there's enough evidence in the text for that. So I don't think you're going in the wrong direction with him at all.
[Here goes a way-too-long wordspew. I have thoughts and emotions, apparently, and now we all have to deal with that.]
He can be a bully, a coward at times, selfish, prejudiced, and he'll do whatever it takes to survive. He's done some bad things. I don't think he's beyond redemption.
Most of the things that they use to show that he's going to be trouble don't quite work. A lot of what he does up to the point where he rampages is something another Animorph has done before, just more extreme to varying degrees.
He kills the crow. That's bad, but what about when Marco was stressed out in wolf spider morph and killed that cockroach? Meanwhile Ax is in the same spider morph, and genuinely disturbed by Marco's behavior.
Marco's suggested robbing banks and using their powers to live the high life more than once. They've all used their powers for personal reasons, and been reckless.
That night when they were cowering behind that brick wall? Jake narrates that they all wanted to scream and cry and surrender. They stay, but only because Elfangor sends them some of his courage. Then throughout the series, it's heavily implied that a major factor of why they each stay in the group is because they'd be worried about what the others think of them, and because they'd miss morphing.
He's not a good person (as evidenced by everything that happens after he starts to rampage), but he's not evil. Evil people don't cry when their parents get taken away to be enslaved. They probably wouldn't care about their pets. He's... off. But I think he can be good, in the right situation. Maybe permanently, given time. Your David is getting there, and it's nice to see. It's nice that it's not sudden, because that would be unrealistic.
And I don't want to give the impression that the Animorphs were really in the wrong or anything. They made a gamble of kindness, like in #19, only this one didn't work out. They've made mistakes, but basically they did everything they felt they had to do, as guided by the essence of who they all are. Same as David.
The Animorphs have a perfect group dynamic. Each personality has a pivotal role in keeping the group together. David doesn't fit. Especially under the circumstances of what happened to him, he's just not the guy who's going to get along with them. As an Animorph, he basically can't exist in that universe without throwing a wrench into everything. Not while the Animorphs are needed and David can get them killed by his need for revenge, not while neither David nor the Animorphs feel safe while the others are around.
[End pointless fanwanking rant.]
Anyway, I'm glad you felt better about it. I'm glad that's helping you keep going. Stuff like this is needed. Because I enjoy it immensely. I'll be willing to fuel your confidence anytime, and you'll keep entertaining me, and it'll be just great. I noticed there's a Rachel! And I noticed she wants to kill him! I'm pretty stoked to see what happens with all that.
I haven't been on D_M in a long time and I've never been on SWS, but if I do venture over there I'd be thrilled to play with you.
Carry on. :D
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