PLAYER Name: Asher Personal Journal:asherdashery E-mail: ash (dot) sofman (at) gmail (dot) com AIM/MSN/etc: asherdashery (AIM), asherdashery (Plurk)
CHARACTER Name: Davesprite Canon: Homestuck Timeline: Immediately post-Cascade, before Jade brings him to the party boat.
Personality: DAVESPRITE: ask me anything go ahead ill give you a straight answer DAVE: alright DAVE: here goes DAVE: why are we so fucking awesome DAVESPRITE: thats the best fucking question anybody ever asked
So there's this thirteen-year-old boy who lives with his brother, striking cool into the heat of Texas. He runs his own blog, mixes his own music, develops his own photos, and makes his own (awful) comics. He fills his room with posters of robots and dead things in jars. He's quick with a katana and quicker with a verbal jab, especially when it comes to rap battles. His buddies come from all over the country, and as for bullies--well, he once trolled a troll into blocking him. He never takes off his shades. Pretty sweet, right?
Davesprite used to be Dave Strider, the aforementioned sweet dude with the shades and the swag. The defining drive of his life was maintaining his aura of chill nonchalance, which mostly manifested as verbal irony and a general downplaying of emotion. There was nothing that could get his goat. Absolutely. Not even a thing. Not the goading of internet trolls or his brother's creepy puppets or the insinuation that someone peed in his apple juice--this kid just took it in stride and flung back sarcastic commentary and did not at all flip off the handle. Or if he did, he made sure to spin it into the illest acrobatic pirouette.
Take that kid and put him into a game that ends the world, kills his friends, and makes itself impossible to win.
Long story short, an alternate version of Dave came back from a doomed, dead-end future to save his friends. This alternate Dave became Davesprite. He's still Dave, but he's saddled with what might have been months of endless monster-fighting, the loss of two of his best friends, heightened exposure to unforgiving psychoanalysis from his last friend and the only other living human left in his timeline (who also happens to be the sister he didn't know he had), and the knowledge that all he was doing, every enemy he destroyed, amounted to nothing more than reconnaissance to ensure this Dave would make the past go the right way.
Maybe he's a little bit bitter.
TG: john stop being a tool and unbuckle yourself from that piece of shit TG: if our friendship means anything youll listen to me and past dave TG: this is future dave by the way
Compared to Dave, Davesprite's usually a little more straightforward and easier to read. He doesn't have much patience for bullshit, even his own, so he'll often just come out and say things instead of deflecting his sincerity through layers of foul language and metaphor. He's still more comfortable mowing down demons with a sword than he is with his feelings, but he's a bit easier to parse. This is even more so the case when Davesprite has important information to impart; a sprite's role is to guide players through the game, and he doesn't seem to have a problem with being helpful. When he's upset or doesn't want to share something, though, he can clam up pretty intensely--and be an unbelievable jerk about it, too.
He also used to hold the game-given title of the Knight of Time, so he's got a chivalrous, protective impulse wrapped up in all that posturing and places a surprising value on duty for a thirteen-year-old. Davesprite always has some greater purpose to attend: saving his friends, sticking around to mentor Dave, backing up his brother, reforging a legendary sword. It could be that he keeps himself busy to avoid thinking about his no-longer-dead friends, or how he abandoned his sister in the bad timeline with no definite assurance her consciousness would transfer to the good. He certainly avoids contacting all of them except on game-related, saving-their-lives business. He instead focuses blindly on his responsibilities.
TG: but like TG: if im seeing this TG: shouldnt i be able to do something about it TG: or stop it from happening or TG: i dont know like anything to keep helping my friends TG: what do i do
And Davesprite's ultimate responsibility is to his people. While Alpha Dave can get distracted by sidequests and rap-offs and troll banter, Davesprite pursues the well-being of his friends and family with a dogged persistence not even the most exquisitely crappy comic-strip peace offerings can deter. This protectiveness may blind him to full understanding of his friends' own strengths--both he and Dave can be a little dismissive of them, especially the friendlier, nicer ones. The self-aggrandizement and stand-offish attitude may not be more than an act, but Davesprite tends to think he's the only one who can get things done. He's either the only one capable, the only one knowledgeable, or the only one, well, expendable enough, as an alternate Dave. And when things go bad, he has a tendency to blame himself.
AA: and yes your guardian did die TG: dammit TG: what did i do wrong
With all that weight, and after being completely powerless to stop the game's super-villain from tearing him apart and killing his brother, it's really no wonder that Davesprite comes off as worn and war-weary. He's been through a lot, and he's hurt in every way, and he's so close to just being done with it all that the only thing that has been keeping him going is his sense of duty.
After all, he doesn't consider himself the "real" Dave anymore. He's drawn back from his friends, turned timeline management over to Alpha Dave, lost his brother, and even gave up his normal body to prevent his bad future from happening. He's in terrible condition. The other Dave's there to pick up where he left off. What's he got left to hang on for besides one last effort to help his friends?
JADESPRITE: what about your sword? isnt it important? DAVESPRITE: i guess so DAVESPRITE: but not really for me since im not the real dave anymore
So the tl;dr version: He's an insufferable prick the same pseudo-detached sarcastic jerk he always was, but he cuts out a lot of the bullshit because of everything he's lost. He's still cagey about his feelings, but it's a little clearer how much he really does care about his people. He clings to purpose like a drowning man to the rock pulling him down. Because under all the pop culture references and ironic metaphors, he's just a thirteen-year-old kid loaded up with guilt and insecurity.
[CANON] DAVESPRITE || Homestuck || reserve || 1 of 2
Name: Asher
Personal Journal:
E-mail: ash (dot) sofman (at) gmail (dot) com
AIM/MSN/etc: asherdashery (AIM), asherdashery (Plurk)
CHARACTER
Name: Davesprite
Canon: Homestuck
Timeline: Immediately post-Cascade, before Jade brings him to the party boat.
Personality: DAVESPRITE: ask me anything go ahead ill give you a straight answer
DAVE: alright
DAVE: here goes
DAVE: why are we so fucking awesome
DAVESPRITE: thats the best fucking question anybody ever asked
So there's this thirteen-year-old boy who lives with his brother, striking cool into the heat of Texas. He runs his own blog, mixes his own music, develops his own photos, and makes his own (awful) comics. He fills his room with posters of robots and dead things in jars. He's quick with a katana and quicker with a verbal jab, especially when it comes to rap battles. His buddies come from all over the country, and as for bullies--well, he once trolled a troll into blocking him. He never takes off his shades. Pretty sweet, right?
Davesprite used to be Dave Strider, the aforementioned sweet dude with the shades and the swag. The defining drive of his life was maintaining his aura of chill nonchalance, which mostly manifested as verbal irony and a general downplaying of emotion. There was nothing that could get his goat. Absolutely. Not even a thing. Not the goading of internet trolls or his brother's creepy puppets or the insinuation that someone peed in his apple juice--this kid just took it in stride and flung back sarcastic commentary and did not at all flip off the handle. Or if he did, he made sure to spin it into the illest acrobatic pirouette.
Take that kid and put him into a game that ends the world, kills his friends, and makes itself impossible to win.
Long story short, an alternate version of Dave came back from a doomed, dead-end future to save his friends. This alternate Dave became Davesprite. He's still Dave, but he's saddled with what might have been months of endless monster-fighting, the loss of two of his best friends, heightened exposure to unforgiving psychoanalysis from his last friend and the only other living human left in his timeline (who also happens to be the sister he didn't know he had), and the knowledge that all he was doing, every enemy he destroyed, amounted to nothing more than reconnaissance to ensure this Dave would make the past go the right way.
Maybe he's a little bit bitter.
TG: john stop being a tool and unbuckle yourself from that piece of shit
TG: if our friendship means anything youll listen to me and past dave
TG: this is future dave by the way
Compared to Dave, Davesprite's usually a little more straightforward and easier to read. He doesn't have much patience for bullshit, even his own, so he'll often just come out and say things instead of deflecting his sincerity through layers of foul language and metaphor. He's still more comfortable mowing down demons with a sword than he is with his feelings, but he's a bit easier to parse. This is even more so the case when Davesprite has important information to impart; a sprite's role is to guide players through the game, and he doesn't seem to have a problem with being helpful. When he's upset or doesn't want to share something, though, he can clam up pretty intensely--and be an unbelievable jerk about it, too.
He also used to hold the game-given title of the Knight of Time, so he's got a chivalrous, protective impulse wrapped up in all that posturing and places a surprising value on duty for a thirteen-year-old. Davesprite always has some greater purpose to attend: saving his friends, sticking around to mentor Dave, backing up his brother, reforging a legendary sword. It could be that he keeps himself busy to avoid thinking about his no-longer-dead friends, or how he abandoned his sister in the bad timeline with no definite assurance her consciousness would transfer to the good. He certainly avoids contacting all of them except on game-related, saving-their-lives business. He instead focuses blindly on his responsibilities.
TG: but like
TG: if im seeing this
TG: shouldnt i be able to do something about it
TG: or stop it from happening or
TG: i dont know like anything to keep helping my friends
TG: what do i do
And Davesprite's ultimate responsibility is to his people. While Alpha Dave can get distracted by sidequests and rap-offs and troll banter, Davesprite pursues the well-being of his friends and family with a dogged persistence not even the most exquisitely crappy comic-strip peace offerings can deter. This protectiveness may blind him to full understanding of his friends' own strengths--both he and Dave can be a little dismissive of them, especially the friendlier, nicer ones. The self-aggrandizement and stand-offish attitude may not be more than an act, but Davesprite tends to think he's the only one who can get things done. He's either the only one capable, the only one knowledgeable, or the only one, well, expendable enough, as an alternate Dave. And when things go bad, he has a tendency to blame himself.
AA: and yes your guardian did die
TG: dammit
TG: what did i do wrong
With all that weight, and after being completely powerless to stop the game's super-villain from tearing him apart and killing his brother, it's really no wonder that Davesprite comes off as worn and war-weary. He's been through a lot, and he's hurt in every way, and he's so close to just being done with it all that the only thing that has been keeping him going is his sense of duty.
After all, he doesn't consider himself the "real" Dave anymore. He's drawn back from his friends, turned timeline management over to Alpha Dave, lost his brother, and even gave up his normal body to prevent his bad future from happening. He's in terrible condition. The other Dave's there to pick up where he left off. What's he got left to hang on for besides one last effort to help his friends?
JADESPRITE: what about your sword? isnt it important?
DAVESPRITE: i guess so
DAVESPRITE: but not really for me since im not the real dave anymore
So the tl;dr version: He's
an insufferable prickthe same pseudo-detached sarcastic jerk he always was, but he cuts out a lot of the bullshit because of everything he's lost. He's still cagey about his feelings, but it's a little clearer how much he really does care about his people. He clings to purpose like a drowning man to the rock pulling him down. Because under all the pop culture references and ironic metaphors, he's just a thirteen-year-old kid loaded up with guilt and insecurity.