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Oct. 10th, 2017 12:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unhappycamperPLAYER
Player name: Meta
Contact:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
metathepanda; metathepanda @ gmail
CHARACTER
Character Name: Maxwell. Last name unknown, commonly referred to as Max on the show.
Character Age: 10
Canon: Camp Camp
Canon Point: Post Season 2; after the events of "Night of the Living Ill" Halloween special, if possible.
History: Wiki link is here, though it doesn't really go into his history. My own quick sum-up of his involvement in the series can be found here.
Personality: The most notable trait about Max is his cynical outlook on life, which is apparent from day one. We learn at the end of the series just why he feels this way: his parents are neglectful toward him and sent him to summer camp to not deal with him (S2E12), and it was likely he was mostly raised by TV (S1E4, among others). Clearly this sort of parenting has left a really harsh impression on Max. When first introduced to him (S1E1), Max tells David that camp is "really, truly horrifying" and that he is at camp only because his parents made him go to not have to deal with him, then asking David "Why do you think we return the favor when they hit 70?" All throughout the series, he has many exchanges like this, even among the other children his age like Nikki and Neil. His cynicism almost extends into nihilism in some parts of the show (S1E5), such as when he states that "you die, and then you're faced with eternal nothingness. It's gonna be great". When he finds David buying questionable items in town, he runs to Nikki and Neil to warn them that David's snapped (S1E8). When Neil accused Max of knowing what this would lead to, Max explains that he "didn't want to drive him to murder", then adding, "I just wanted to show him that his entire philosophical outlook on life is flawed and that the fundamental beliefs and ideologies he holds so dearly are trivial so that he'll start crying himself to sleep like the rest of us! I'm not a monster!" At the Camporee when Camp Campbell won the dubious honor of first place, Max angrily interrupts David's life lesson to state that no one cares, before dropping the "trophy" and walking away (S1E11). Finally, during the events of the Order of the Sparrow, Max simply refused to take part in David's competition, and then went out of his way to try and prove to David that none of the campers actually cared about the competition, but about the mysterious prize at the end (S1E12). He even stands there and berates David as he attempts to light the bonfire by saying, "It's what I've been trying to show you since day one. Life sucks, and we live in a world of desensitized, apathetic assholes. Why don't you just get with the program and stop giving a shit?" It's clear from these examples that he is jaded, miserable, and wants to tear down others so that he can feel better about himself and, in the end, less alone in the world.
Another important personality trait is his scheming. He is a smart kid when it comes down to it, and he is constantly trying to make the world work for him rather than do a lot of hard work himself. This likely stems from his parents above, but also from his pessimistic mindset that things aren't just going to work out or things aren't just going to get better. He starts a revolution at the camp to avoid manual labor (S1E4), he creates an underground craps ring to make Nurf lose all his bullying money (S2E2), and he makes Gwen go get his bear for him when he learns that she's looking for other jobs (S2E8). This, among many other schemes throughout the series, showcase Max's need to be in charge, likely because he does not have much of a say in his life back home and in Camp Campbell, but also because he feels that one of the few ways to get what you want in life is to make sure it happens. It's also likely that his scheming is just one of the ways he acts out for attention, as well as bullying (see below).
Then there is his generally bullying nature. Much like Nurf in the series, Max is kind of a bully, but his behavior is not nearly as prevalent nor as overt as Nurf's standard bullying techniques (wedgies, threatening for lunch money, and so on). Max is much more of a subtle bully, using passive aggressive language to tear people down. He always looks down on people regardless of whether they're adults or children his age. He constantly does this to David, telling him that camp is a fucking nightmare and then directly swearing at David when he tells Max to watch his language (S1E1). He "kills" the camp mascot with a Rube Goldberg-style machine, and then laments that it was supposed to kill David instead (S1E2). He constantly harasses Space Kid, though it is most prevalent in Season 2. Two such examples are knocking Space Kid's cardboard rocket on top of him after trying to light it up with matches, or telling the other children that he is expendable (S2E12, Halloween Special). He blackmails Gwen because he knows she's leaving soon, but at least "she's mine to torture 'til she's gone" (S2E8). Finally to help with Nurf's Boot Camp, he states that "there's only one Camp Campbell camper worse than him, and it's me", then insisting on "double dessert, no activities for a week, and David's social security number" as payment for his help (S1E9). Much like Nurf, though, he's mostly doing these sorts of things to get attention, because it's one of the only sure-fire ways to get attention from others, and likely from his parents back home.
Max is also extremely blunt about his feelings and thoughts. Throughout the series he makes many references towards parents leaving their kids at summer camp because they don't care, and it turns out that he has been describing his exact situation the whole time (S2E12). He also just straight-up tells Pikeman the Woodscout that his face is gross (S1E3), even though he apologizes immediately because he knows it was mean to say. He often belittles other kids' hobbies around the camp, such as calling Erid "extreme sports Barbie" (S1E4), telling Jasper multiple times to buzz off because he's ruining the "comedy trio" vibe (S1E5), and asking "what the hell are you idiots doing?" when Nikki, Neil, Nerris, and Harrison begin LARPing their D&D adventure (S2E3). The entirety of the episode with Jermy Fartz is just an exercise in Max trying to keep his words from coming out of his mouth, as he has to fight back many insults he would otherwise just blurt out as he thought of them (S2E4). His conversation with Pikeman indicates he does have some idea that he's doing this, and he will apologize if someone's clearly upset by it, but in general he doesn't seem to take that into consideration when he's speaking.
But Max is not a completely terrible child. There is a string of kindness and sympathy through him that he desperately tries not to show, to keep up his angry and bitter pre-teenage persona. When going through Nurf's Boot Camp, Max clearly shows distress when Nurf has emotional breakthroughs followed by violent outbursts, going so far as to say, "Man, he is way more fucked up than I thought" (S1E9). During the events of Order of the Sparrow, Max does have a moment of kindness where he organizes the bonfire and helps make costumes, even going so far as to attempt to fix David's staff (S1E12). Likely because his parents are immigrants from India, he was the one to design the costumes as well, with Preston Goodplay's help. Finally there is the date he helps set up between Bonquisha and David after Bonquisha leaves him (S2E7); Max claims it's due to David being annoying when he was crying over her, but it seems more likely that he wouldn't go to all the trouble of setting up a romcom scenario unless he cared about the person in question.
In summary, Max on the surface appears to be a mean-spirited kid with a pessimistic or even nihilistic attitude, an uncaring bluntness, and a general disregard for other's needs and feelings. But really, deep down, he does have a kind nature, and just wants to be accepted by others. He just doesn't know how to show it very well, because bad behavior has gotten him more attention than good behavior.
Inventory: His clothes and his teddy bear Mister Honeynuts are all he'll really need, but if he can also have his duffel bag from camp with a set of extra (identical) clothes, that would be great.
Abilities: He really has no extraordinary abilities as a ten year old, except for a few that are generally used as gags. He is very clearly skilled at knitting and knot-tying from his time at Camp Campbell (S1E1), and at general wilderness survival (S1E4). He is also apparently very good with a switchblade and with spear/pole fighting (S1E4). He is not scared of most things (S1E2, S1E5) as he is a very jaded child. He is very good at various questionable skills, mainly sneaking (S1E1, S1E8, and others), theft (S1E7, Halloween Special), extortion (S2E8), lockpicking (S2E6), racketeering and illegal gambling (S1E9, S2E3), tumbling and acrobatics (S1E11, Halloween Special, and others), finding black market or underground connections (S1E3)... and he even makes mention of being able to hotwire the camp bus (S1E1). Basically, his skill set, while mundane, is hella fucked up. Also it's highly likely that since his parents are immigrants from India (S1E4, S1E12), he speaks a few other languages, likely Hindustani as it is the most frequently used lingua franca other than English in India (basically a mixture of Hindi and Urdu, meaning he likely understands both as well). He probably also speaks a local dialect or language but it's unclear just where his parents are from in India, meaning I could only speculate on the local language.
Flaws: ... hooooo boy. Let's start from the top and break it down by episode:
- He stole a camp bus and proceeded to wreck it not far from the campsite.
- He attempted to kill his camp counselor, and when he hit the mascot instead, only showed remorse that it didn't kill David.
- He attempted to sneak out of the camp via the Woodscouts, and straight up called Pikeman's face gross when he got too close.
- He organized a revolution against the adults and tied them up to various surfaces, only to completely wreck the camp when he fought for control of the new camp hierarchy.
- He purposefully placed a homicidal squirrel in Space Kid's suit. Later he insisted going further into the spooky summer house to prove supernatural happenings weren't real when the kids with him were clearly scared of the lab experiments and traces of torture and wanted to leave.
- He blew off camp activities to join Nikki in putting pudding cups in their pockets.
- He blew off the play so he could mess up David's Tinder profile and look up questionable things on his data connection.
- He snuck into town to escape camp and stalk David around because he wanted to see David "finally crack".
- He asked for double dessert, no activities for a week, and David's social security number in exchange for his help with Nurf.
- He refused to do anything for the Order of the Sparrow, and accused David of not even having a prize for the winning campers. (He did balance this out by making the Order of the Sparrow bonfire happen, though. But he used gasoline to light the bonfire...)
- He convinced David to investigate Daniel only by telling him that Daniel is "obviously a better camp counselor than [David]".
- He told Neil's chatbot to divide by zero and destroy the calculator, instead of just telling Neil that he knows it's a chatbot. Then he gave the chatbot to David just to see what would happen, and watched in a recliner as the camp slowly devolved.
- He ran an underground craps ring instead of joining Nikki and Neil on their "important" quest.
- He barely managed to not say anything about Jermy Fartz, only to let it all out on David immediately after David lost the bet.
- He got Space Kid stuck in his own rocket just because he could.
- He snuck into the Quartermaster's store to regift the Quartermaster his own stuff.
- He helped the gang try to get David and Bonquisha back together, only because David was "somehow less annoying" with Bonquisha.
- He blackmailed Gwen into getting his teddy bear back when he learned she was looking for other jobs.
- He attempted multiple times to destroy the platypus egg instead of trying to nurture it.
- He made Space Kid sick and fucked up the "moon landing" all because he thought Space Kid was annoying and needed to stop loving space so much.
- He consistently caused havoc throughout the entirety of Parents' Day, such as throwing mashed potatoes and attempting to set Space Kid's rocket on fire, until it comes to light that his parents are neglectful. Then he threatened to murder David if he told anyone that Max hugged him.
- He ignored others' health when searching for medicine, such as leaving Space Kid behind in the study, leaving Neil and Nikki behind in the cellar, leaving Ered behind in the library, even going so far as to ask Space Kid for his suit so that he wouldn't get sick. Then when Space Kid does get sick, Max says that Space Kid can't get the camp sick and just walks off.
SAMPLES
Action Log Sample: Here is my personal TDM thread, and my tag-outs to others are here, here, and here. If you would rather I write you a sample, just let me know.
REVISIONS
Why would Max be suitable in a game like Hadriel, which often involves mature emotional themes and would require the character to be self-sufficient despite his age?: Max is very self-sufficient despite his age. One could argue that he's more self-sufficient than some adults. He canonically knows knot-tying, wilderness survival skills, and staff fighting (S1E4), and he is very good at hiding and sneaking (S2E8, Halloween Special). Furthermore, it is stated in canon that his parents are neglectful (S2E12, among others), so it is likely that he mostly takes care of himself at home. As far as emotionally mature themes are concerned, the entirety of Camp Camp covers a vast array of topics, from the standard R-rated violence, sex, and swearing to more difficult topics like parental neglect and abuse (S1E9, S2E12), criminal enterprise (basically any episode with Cameron Campbell in it), and the difficulty of the job market in present day (S2E8). The majority of these themes are either dismissively ignored, mocked, or otherwise easily handled by Max (that Max openly states the Order of the Sparrow's representation of Native American culture is super racist in S1E12, or that Max states the camp's founder is a "rich piece of shit with terrible morals, and who also potentially kills people - all things I was already pretty sure of", in S1E5). While Max is really only personally affected by one difficult mature theme in the show, he does manage to get through it with the help of the two good adult figures in his life. Overall I think Max is suitable for the game because he is shown to handle many mature topics well and he is extremely self-sufficient for a child his age. While there are some issues he would not be able to handle alone, I believe that like most characters in Hadriel, Max would be able to work through them with the help of his CR.
Player name: Meta
Contact:
CHARACTER
Character Name: Maxwell. Last name unknown, commonly referred to as Max on the show.
Character Age: 10
Canon: Camp Camp
Canon Point: Post Season 2; after the events of "Night of the Living Ill" Halloween special, if possible.
History: Wiki link is here, though it doesn't really go into his history. My own quick sum-up of his involvement in the series can be found here.
Personality: The most notable trait about Max is his cynical outlook on life, which is apparent from day one. We learn at the end of the series just why he feels this way: his parents are neglectful toward him and sent him to summer camp to not deal with him (S2E12), and it was likely he was mostly raised by TV (S1E4, among others). Clearly this sort of parenting has left a really harsh impression on Max. When first introduced to him (S1E1), Max tells David that camp is "really, truly horrifying" and that he is at camp only because his parents made him go to not have to deal with him, then asking David "Why do you think we return the favor when they hit 70?" All throughout the series, he has many exchanges like this, even among the other children his age like Nikki and Neil. His cynicism almost extends into nihilism in some parts of the show (S1E5), such as when he states that "you die, and then you're faced with eternal nothingness. It's gonna be great". When he finds David buying questionable items in town, he runs to Nikki and Neil to warn them that David's snapped (S1E8). When Neil accused Max of knowing what this would lead to, Max explains that he "didn't want to drive him to murder", then adding, "I just wanted to show him that his entire philosophical outlook on life is flawed and that the fundamental beliefs and ideologies he holds so dearly are trivial so that he'll start crying himself to sleep like the rest of us! I'm not a monster!" At the Camporee when Camp Campbell won the dubious honor of first place, Max angrily interrupts David's life lesson to state that no one cares, before dropping the "trophy" and walking away (S1E11). Finally, during the events of the Order of the Sparrow, Max simply refused to take part in David's competition, and then went out of his way to try and prove to David that none of the campers actually cared about the competition, but about the mysterious prize at the end (S1E12). He even stands there and berates David as he attempts to light the bonfire by saying, "It's what I've been trying to show you since day one. Life sucks, and we live in a world of desensitized, apathetic assholes. Why don't you just get with the program and stop giving a shit?" It's clear from these examples that he is jaded, miserable, and wants to tear down others so that he can feel better about himself and, in the end, less alone in the world.
Another important personality trait is his scheming. He is a smart kid when it comes down to it, and he is constantly trying to make the world work for him rather than do a lot of hard work himself. This likely stems from his parents above, but also from his pessimistic mindset that things aren't just going to work out or things aren't just going to get better. He starts a revolution at the camp to avoid manual labor (S1E4), he creates an underground craps ring to make Nurf lose all his bullying money (S2E2), and he makes Gwen go get his bear for him when he learns that she's looking for other jobs (S2E8). This, among many other schemes throughout the series, showcase Max's need to be in charge, likely because he does not have much of a say in his life back home and in Camp Campbell, but also because he feels that one of the few ways to get what you want in life is to make sure it happens. It's also likely that his scheming is just one of the ways he acts out for attention, as well as bullying (see below).
Then there is his generally bullying nature. Much like Nurf in the series, Max is kind of a bully, but his behavior is not nearly as prevalent nor as overt as Nurf's standard bullying techniques (wedgies, threatening for lunch money, and so on). Max is much more of a subtle bully, using passive aggressive language to tear people down. He always looks down on people regardless of whether they're adults or children his age. He constantly does this to David, telling him that camp is a fucking nightmare and then directly swearing at David when he tells Max to watch his language (S1E1). He "kills" the camp mascot with a Rube Goldberg-style machine, and then laments that it was supposed to kill David instead (S1E2). He constantly harasses Space Kid, though it is most prevalent in Season 2. Two such examples are knocking Space Kid's cardboard rocket on top of him after trying to light it up with matches, or telling the other children that he is expendable (S2E12, Halloween Special). He blackmails Gwen because he knows she's leaving soon, but at least "she's mine to torture 'til she's gone" (S2E8). Finally to help with Nurf's Boot Camp, he states that "there's only one Camp Campbell camper worse than him, and it's me", then insisting on "double dessert, no activities for a week, and David's social security number" as payment for his help (S1E9). Much like Nurf, though, he's mostly doing these sorts of things to get attention, because it's one of the only sure-fire ways to get attention from others, and likely from his parents back home.
Max is also extremely blunt about his feelings and thoughts. Throughout the series he makes many references towards parents leaving their kids at summer camp because they don't care, and it turns out that he has been describing his exact situation the whole time (S2E12). He also just straight-up tells Pikeman the Woodscout that his face is gross (S1E3), even though he apologizes immediately because he knows it was mean to say. He often belittles other kids' hobbies around the camp, such as calling Erid "extreme sports Barbie" (S1E4), telling Jasper multiple times to buzz off because he's ruining the "comedy trio" vibe (S1E5), and asking "what the hell are you idiots doing?" when Nikki, Neil, Nerris, and Harrison begin LARPing their D&D adventure (S2E3). The entirety of the episode with Jermy Fartz is just an exercise in Max trying to keep his words from coming out of his mouth, as he has to fight back many insults he would otherwise just blurt out as he thought of them (S2E4). His conversation with Pikeman indicates he does have some idea that he's doing this, and he will apologize if someone's clearly upset by it, but in general he doesn't seem to take that into consideration when he's speaking.
But Max is not a completely terrible child. There is a string of kindness and sympathy through him that he desperately tries not to show, to keep up his angry and bitter pre-teenage persona. When going through Nurf's Boot Camp, Max clearly shows distress when Nurf has emotional breakthroughs followed by violent outbursts, going so far as to say, "Man, he is way more fucked up than I thought" (S1E9). During the events of Order of the Sparrow, Max does have a moment of kindness where he organizes the bonfire and helps make costumes, even going so far as to attempt to fix David's staff (S1E12). Likely because his parents are immigrants from India, he was the one to design the costumes as well, with Preston Goodplay's help. Finally there is the date he helps set up between Bonquisha and David after Bonquisha leaves him (S2E7); Max claims it's due to David being annoying when he was crying over her, but it seems more likely that he wouldn't go to all the trouble of setting up a romcom scenario unless he cared about the person in question.
In summary, Max on the surface appears to be a mean-spirited kid with a pessimistic or even nihilistic attitude, an uncaring bluntness, and a general disregard for other's needs and feelings. But really, deep down, he does have a kind nature, and just wants to be accepted by others. He just doesn't know how to show it very well, because bad behavior has gotten him more attention than good behavior.
Inventory: His clothes and his teddy bear Mister Honeynuts are all he'll really need, but if he can also have his duffel bag from camp with a set of extra (identical) clothes, that would be great.
Abilities: He really has no extraordinary abilities as a ten year old, except for a few that are generally used as gags. He is very clearly skilled at knitting and knot-tying from his time at Camp Campbell (S1E1), and at general wilderness survival (S1E4). He is also apparently very good with a switchblade and with spear/pole fighting (S1E4). He is not scared of most things (S1E2, S1E5) as he is a very jaded child. He is very good at various questionable skills, mainly sneaking (S1E1, S1E8, and others), theft (S1E7, Halloween Special), extortion (S2E8), lockpicking (S2E6), racketeering and illegal gambling (S1E9, S2E3), tumbling and acrobatics (S1E11, Halloween Special, and others), finding black market or underground connections (S1E3)... and he even makes mention of being able to hotwire the camp bus (S1E1). Basically, his skill set, while mundane, is hella fucked up. Also it's highly likely that since his parents are immigrants from India (S1E4, S1E12), he speaks a few other languages, likely Hindustani as it is the most frequently used lingua franca other than English in India (basically a mixture of Hindi and Urdu, meaning he likely understands both as well). He probably also speaks a local dialect or language but it's unclear just where his parents are from in India, meaning I could only speculate on the local language.
Flaws: ... hooooo boy. Let's start from the top and break it down by episode:
- He stole a camp bus and proceeded to wreck it not far from the campsite.
- He attempted to kill his camp counselor, and when he hit the mascot instead, only showed remorse that it didn't kill David.
- He attempted to sneak out of the camp via the Woodscouts, and straight up called Pikeman's face gross when he got too close.
- He organized a revolution against the adults and tied them up to various surfaces, only to completely wreck the camp when he fought for control of the new camp hierarchy.
- He purposefully placed a homicidal squirrel in Space Kid's suit. Later he insisted going further into the spooky summer house to prove supernatural happenings weren't real when the kids with him were clearly scared of the lab experiments and traces of torture and wanted to leave.
- He blew off camp activities to join Nikki in putting pudding cups in their pockets.
- He blew off the play so he could mess up David's Tinder profile and look up questionable things on his data connection.
- He snuck into town to escape camp and stalk David around because he wanted to see David "finally crack".
- He asked for double dessert, no activities for a week, and David's social security number in exchange for his help with Nurf.
- He refused to do anything for the Order of the Sparrow, and accused David of not even having a prize for the winning campers. (He did balance this out by making the Order of the Sparrow bonfire happen, though. But he used gasoline to light the bonfire...)
- He convinced David to investigate Daniel only by telling him that Daniel is "obviously a better camp counselor than [David]".
- He told Neil's chatbot to divide by zero and destroy the calculator, instead of just telling Neil that he knows it's a chatbot. Then he gave the chatbot to David just to see what would happen, and watched in a recliner as the camp slowly devolved.
- He ran an underground craps ring instead of joining Nikki and Neil on their "important" quest.
- He barely managed to not say anything about Jermy Fartz, only to let it all out on David immediately after David lost the bet.
- He got Space Kid stuck in his own rocket just because he could.
- He snuck into the Quartermaster's store to regift the Quartermaster his own stuff.
- He helped the gang try to get David and Bonquisha back together, only because David was "somehow less annoying" with Bonquisha.
- He blackmailed Gwen into getting his teddy bear back when he learned she was looking for other jobs.
- He attempted multiple times to destroy the platypus egg instead of trying to nurture it.
- He made Space Kid sick and fucked up the "moon landing" all because he thought Space Kid was annoying and needed to stop loving space so much.
- He consistently caused havoc throughout the entirety of Parents' Day, such as throwing mashed potatoes and attempting to set Space Kid's rocket on fire, until it comes to light that his parents are neglectful. Then he threatened to murder David if he told anyone that Max hugged him.
- He ignored others' health when searching for medicine, such as leaving Space Kid behind in the study, leaving Neil and Nikki behind in the cellar, leaving Ered behind in the library, even going so far as to ask Space Kid for his suit so that he wouldn't get sick. Then when Space Kid does get sick, Max says that Space Kid can't get the camp sick and just walks off.
SAMPLES
Action Log Sample: Here is my personal TDM thread, and my tag-outs to others are here, here, and here. If you would rather I write you a sample, just let me know.
REVISIONS
Why would Max be suitable in a game like Hadriel, which often involves mature emotional themes and would require the character to be self-sufficient despite his age?: Max is very self-sufficient despite his age. One could argue that he's more self-sufficient than some adults. He canonically knows knot-tying, wilderness survival skills, and staff fighting (S1E4), and he is very good at hiding and sneaking (S2E8, Halloween Special). Furthermore, it is stated in canon that his parents are neglectful (S2E12, among others), so it is likely that he mostly takes care of himself at home. As far as emotionally mature themes are concerned, the entirety of Camp Camp covers a vast array of topics, from the standard R-rated violence, sex, and swearing to more difficult topics like parental neglect and abuse (S1E9, S2E12), criminal enterprise (basically any episode with Cameron Campbell in it), and the difficulty of the job market in present day (S2E8). The majority of these themes are either dismissively ignored, mocked, or otherwise easily handled by Max (that Max openly states the Order of the Sparrow's representation of Native American culture is super racist in S1E12, or that Max states the camp's founder is a "rich piece of shit with terrible morals, and who also potentially kills people - all things I was already pretty sure of", in S1E5). While Max is really only personally affected by one difficult mature theme in the show, he does manage to get through it with the help of the two good adult figures in his life. Overall I think Max is suitable for the game because he is shown to handle many mature topics well and he is extremely self-sufficient for a child his age. While there are some issues he would not be able to handle alone, I believe that like most characters in Hadriel, Max would be able to work through them with the help of his CR.
