HOW'S MY DRIVING: PLAYER EDITION

[taxonmods]

Time again for the triumphant re-return of the HMD!

Please comment here with the names of the characters you play and others will reply with their feedback- and it's obviously a given that this feedback will be helpful, constructive and respectful. Also, as amazing as getting ILU comments is, it's nice to hear why and what we're doing right just as much as criticism needs to be constructive. Participation is also entirely optional, and if you have any issues just let a mod know and we'll help out as much as we can.

Anonymous commenting is enabled and IP logging is off for your convenience should you require it!

Comments

THE MODS

[taxonmods]

Mod-crit is here again, in lite and alien form! For reference, your mods are:

Gidget (taxshakey)
Keri (taxspice)
Rumi (taxfurby)
Sarah (taxshark)

And all four of us share duties between taxcollectors, theextras, and fathertaxmas.

CARLEE

[yourlivewire.livejournal.com]

max guevara; dark angel. (aregulargirl)
elena gilbert; the vampire diaries. (adeadringer)
angela dodson; constantine. (deniedthesight)

i know i've pretty much dropped the ball on activity as far as angela, but if you've got crit regarding any of them, i'd really like to hear it. ♥ thanks for your time in advance!

CARLEE

[defenestration]

I've enjoyed talking with Angela, and will enjoy it MORE when I'm less tagfail. I don't know Max's or Elena's canons, and it's been so long since I've seen Angela's, that I can't offer anything useful at all. Except that the little bit I've had the chance to RP with you has been excellent, and I really hope for more in future.

[egregiouslypink.livejournal.com]

Caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar bb what do I even say.

I really, really love your characters, dude. Elena is ripped straight from the show, as is Max. I know Angela is the character who tends to be the last on your roster, but when she's around I adore her. (That zombie thread with her and Faith was A+.)

I think my only critique is sometimes... ffffff, how to put this. It looks (from an outsider's perspective) you focus a lot on ships? And lol since I play one half of one of a kind of ship you know I don't mean it like OMG YOU SUCK AND ONLY ARE IN IT FOR BONIN' SO CUT IT OUT but I'd like to see more emphasis on the less romantic aspects, in some cases? Like for example with Elena, this thing with Stef and her and Kat could be a rockin' chance to explore her outside of the 'Elena as girlfriend' role.

ANYWAY you know ilu, man. You're epic, keep it up.

[ebsolutely.livejournal.com]

Carlee Carlee Carlee ilu.

Sadly I know nothing about Angela's canon, so I can't really say anything definitive about her. And I can only remember bits and pieces about Dark Angel when I caught a sporadic episode on tv here and there, so I can't for certain comment on her characterization (although based on your skill with Elena, I daresay it's very likely just wonderful) but I've really loved to follow her threads with everyone. I loved the thread with her and Katherine (which I... need to tag back today, oh god my tag!fail) and am also kind of interested about what will happen with this thing with Damon.

But Elena. Goodness, Car, I continue to be amazed by your handling of Elena, I really am. She's exactly the character we know and love and wouldn't have any other way (/side-eyes late s2 grumpily). I do not think it's hyperbole in the least to say I think your Elena is (still) the best one I've seen around ljrp, your characterization of her is wonderful. The work and insight you and Rumi both put into the Elena/Stefan dynamic is absolutely gorgeous, I always adore their threads.

tl;dr, You're doing it so right and I count myself very lucky to have you as a castmate. ♥

Kim

[defenestration]

gaveupthesword
verylittlesugar
likealexander

I'm feeling really unsure about the voices for Loki and Mattie especially, so ANY suggestions/concrit would be awesome.

(eta: There's an anon-enabled crit thread on each character journal, for the anon-inclined as well.)

[egregiouslypink.livejournal.com]

UM GET OUT I HATE YOU.

Nooooooooo okay. Bear with me, my brain's still all CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!!!

I'll take 'em one by one.

Loki: I know you worry about his voice sometimes, but holy god dude. I adore your Loki, I think you strike the absolute perfect balance between his trolly fuckheadedness and the very serious issues (and years) he's packing. His threads are by far some of my very favorite to stalk, even if they have no bearing at all on any of my characters. He's a true delight, no lie.

Mattie: REALLY NOW, WHY THE DOUBT. I am just... floored at how well you play her. True Grit's got the ~hillbilly Shakespeare~ thing going down, as the Coens put it; you have managed to capture that... stilted lyricism just wonderfully. Her tags are so amazing to read, and I can pretty much see the faces she's making, even without the help of icons. I like how you manage to blend the futuristic elements of Taxon itself with Mattie's very, very old fashioned sensibilities and never lose who she is as a character. (And on a self-centered side note, she and Damon make me crack up.)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaadrian: UM EPIC? No, seriously. For such a new muse you've taken to his voice so, so very well. I AM IN AWE AND HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER BUT PSC 4LYFE.

Re: Kim

[ebsolutely.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I don't know Mattie's (though I've loved to read her threads and her reactions to everything) or Adrian's canons at all (I really do need to check Watchmen out soon). However, Dogma I do know, and in my opinion, you have nothing to worry about in regards to Loki's voice, you're doing great! You strike a really good balance between all the sides of him; the brash, blunt dickhead with serious issues and the kind of easily excited, more laid-back guy who just likes his movies and video games. You also incorporate the uncertainty, for lack of better word, of not having Bartleby around to sort of guide him along - or to hold him back, whichever fits better. What I'm trying to say is that you are mindful of all these different facets to the character and to me, it comes across in his threads in a way that feels very much in character.

gidget;

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

River Tam (biverbam) | Firefly/Serenity

My activity has been really horrible lately, and I know there are things I need to focus on more so I'm trying to figure out how to do that now while hoping rl stuff calms down enough that I can concentrate. Basically if there's anything you've noticed in play that seems off for any reason, please please tell me so I can make sure to fix it.

[egregiouslypink.livejournal.com]

Every time HMD comes around I wish I had something new to say so I don't retread the same old shit I say every time, but damn dude. WHAT DO I SAY. Your River is the River, for me. You've allowed her to grow and change in Taxon, while still keeping her so recognizably River when I read her tags I remember why I loved the show so much.

Tl;dr? Keep on keepin' on, you're flawless.

rumi;

[tamitha]

Concrit on my characters and myself (both as a player and as a mod - although, please hit up the top comment for general mod crit) is very much welcomed. ❤

cametolife ⇛ liz parker ⇛ roswell
nofunever ⇛ stefan salvatore ⇛ tvd
tiberiuskirk ⇛ james t. kirk ⇛ star trek xi
undoing ⇛ angel ⇛ the buffyverse

Re: rumi;

[egregiouslypink.livejournal.com]

YOU'RE THE WORST MOD AND I HATE YOU, GTFO.

No ilu. :( I CANNOT HATE, IT WOULD BE HATING MYSELF.

...Sob your only newbie is Liz and I haven't seen enough of her to make a comment. HERE HAVE STUFF ON YOUR OLDBIES.

Steeeeeeeeeeef I just. When I say I couldn't play off another Stefan now? It's no bullshit, because we've built so much backstory and headcanon another Stef would feel wrong. I love love love love love LOVE him. And I especially love your delicate handling of the Stefan and Kat drama right now; in another rper's hands it could be an utter trainwreck, and with you I find myself nodding along like YES, THIS IS PERFECT. You put so much time and thought into Stefan's thoughts and motivations, it's lovely.

Angel is as always, amazing and again you're the only player I would really want to bounce off. (ARE YOU SEEING A THEME HERE.) You have him nailed as ever, the Angelus glitch was epic and I always love seeing how you have the dual voices down, and the slow burn of Sook and Angel is as always some of my favorite CR.

Kirk is... for me, one of the few I've seen who balance the aspects of his personality well. You see a lot of LOL MANSLUT or LOL ISSUES but the blend isn't there? But with your Kirk, you get all the pieces of the whole. I especially appreciate your depth of knowledge about the Trek franchise and how you apply it to him, because I think a lot of Trek rpers skip over that and end up painting themselves into a corner via not knowing the world. Your Kirk is military (...okay, ~Starfleet~) and you play him as such.

ANYWAY ILU, DEAL WITH IT.

[egregiouslypink.livejournal.com]

Just my usual crew of four!

damon salvatore ♛ allthefunever ♛ the vampire diaries
dawn summers ♛ tothelibrary ♛ the buffy-verse
faith lehane ♛ thesecondslayer ♛ the buffy-verse
sookie stackhouse ♛ lajolieblonde ♛ true blood

MY ACTIVITY WAS SO GOOD THIS MONTH and theeeeeeeeeeen rl got weird. For all tags that have been left hanging (Fourth Wall and otherwise) I am going to work through those this week, with some shadiness while I try to navigate zombie!Jesus weekend with my cray-cray family.

and because I haven't done it in a while, have some HMD free music. ♥!

white rabbit (sucker punch cover) (http://www.box.net/shared/af7j9jckym) | sweet dreams (sucker punch cover) (http://www.box.net/shared/9jpxtl5x8l) | black or white (mj) (http://www.box.net/shared/9uven2jb5y) | slow dancing in a burning room (michael henry and justin robinett cover) (http://www.box.net/shared/7mji3fmvds) | i want it all/we will rock you (sucker punch ~mashup~) (http://www.box.net/shared/splr84t4jl)

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT I'VE SAID ALREADY so i will try to find new things. /knuckle crack

damon → you do an absolutely wonderful job accentuating his pseudo-redemptive arc through his relationships with other characters and reactions. like, really absolutely wonderful. you've struck this impressive balance between his emotional toddler tantrums and that slow leaking attempt to be good that i love.

dawn → this might be something i've said before idr but. i love the way you've had her mature, not just in taxon but regarding her place in the comics and how you've taken that canon point (ridic though the comics may be) and given dawn this much natural-feeling development.

faith → you are fantastic. again, you've taken a character joss steamrolled the characterization of for the sake of really shitty arcs and made her a full, real, very human character instead of the bad girl cutout. i'm still amazed by how much research you put into her past that i think for anyone else would've been easy to ignore or forget about, but you built that framework and apply it logically to what she does.

sookie → SUKEH! again you've taken a character that can be annoying and write-off-able and made her so real. she's a person with opinions and feelings without it being some southern stereotypical hot mess of messery.

my only negative crit is that the universe needs to let you play more which is not your fault, so brb kicking the universe in the shins for you. ♥

Wyatt Cain =/= Sofie

[hasaheart]

>_>

Re: Wyatt Cain =/= Sofie

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

WHAT CAN I SAY THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN SAID? you do such a wonderful job with him and making sure he's not completely unscathed but not a wounded bird, either. the only thing i could want is for him to get out for and make more tablet-y posts for people to respond to.

CB

[eggplantgout.livejournal.com]

Jason Stackhouse eggplantgout
Dan Dreiberg givesahoot
Lex Luthor luthoran

Sob, please be gentle. I never do these. /hides

I know I need to tag more plus I'm still on my slowatus so I'll get to this... slowly.

Re: CB

[inapostbag.livejournal.com]

Okay well first off, you know how much I adore your Lex in a general sense. But to be specific, I really like how you balance caution with curiosity in him, and I'm looking forward to MORE LEX. Especially plotty shenanigans. ♥

Also BLEH, I left out half of what I wanted to say about Lex (ffff brainmush), but BASICALLY. Although I haven't had much contact with him in Taxon I know your Lex very well from museboxes and I can say that he is amazing. He's smart and ambitious but he's also vulnerable too, and you really show how he's a good man put on a bad path. I look forward to seeing you bring out all the subtle layers here in Taxon.

Dan is lovely, I think you have his mild awkwardness and his just basic "nice guy" thing down really well, but he isn't just that, you give him nuances that suggest more. I'd love to see him do something badass in Taxon sometime, to show that side of him. And I adore his interactions with Rorschach especially.

Jason is from a canon I'm not familiar with, so I can't really speak to that aspect, but I really like how he's such a 'guy', and how he's a little goofy and maybe not so bright sometimes, but he's not dumb, and he's not just a goof. I want to see more interactions between him and Sookie (I need to go back and stalk older threads)!

/hopes this all makes sense, words are not totally my friend today X[

[selfmadman]

Don Draper selfmadman (Mad Men)

[inapostbag.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about Don's canon, but I'm starting to feel like I need to fix this, and that right there should say a lot about how interesting you make him. I like his sort of dry resignation toward everything he does, and you can almost feel a kind of weariness in him. I especially adore his interactions with Mattie, how he sort of reluctantly has taken on the role of 'present adult' in her life.

berp

[timecoordinator.livejournal.com]

Coordinator Narvin timecoordinator

NEEDS TO BE DOING WITH THE TAGGING. SO LAZY.

[selfmadman]

I LOVE NARVIN

I don't know anything about his canon, but I will pounce on his threads because they're so funny (your narration is priceless) and his attitude is so terrible (I mean this as a compliment). I DEMAND MORE.

aly.

[herotypical]

[Bad username or site: slaying title= @ livejournal.com] | btvs

my activity has been kinda HMM this month for a variety of reasons but those socks will be picked up soon -- anything you can offer me will be loved and taken on board. i'll also be getting around and commenting to this hmd for others a little late -- going out to the fam's place for easter weekend so i think i'll save my hmding for after i survive that.

Re: aly.

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

aly seriously.

you have taken so much in stride wrt past cr buffy had and forging new relationships with people that are so very true to buffy and how she behaves and reasons things out when reacting to the stuff she deals with in taxon.

basically you are great and you should have lots of fun this weekend. ♥

Ebs

[ebsolutely.livejournal.com]

bonescientist ● Dr. Temperance Brennan ● Bones

whoneedsrules ● Katherine Pierce ● The Vampire Diaries

Let me have it. ♥

Re: Ebs

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

sob idk bones so i can't say much about brennan other than ilher.

KATHERINE THOUGH oh my lord.

you really set the bar for playing a character that is manipulative and ruthless while remaining sympathetic and actually motivated by things rather than just. catty to be catty or something.

hi i haven't slept but you are awesome.

Keri

[kseda.livejournal.com]

justaddmarbles → Glitch → Tin Man
fortunate_fitz → Fitz Kreiner → Doctor Who
and
kseda → Keri L. Divaface → Your Mod Team

Burnout, and I fail Fitz forever :( Hopefully since the rl upheaval of the trip is over I'll get my head out of my tush. Will start backtagging in earnest tonight.

Re: Keri

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

STOP MAKING ME JEALOUS OF ADVENTURES no that is a lie never stop that not ever.

idk enough about fitz to say anything other than that there should be a karaoke night. an awesome karaoke night full of hilarity.

glitch, though, is amazing always. he is such a difficult character and you do a fantastic job of showing the half-brainedness rather than just playing him as silly and just saying "BTW HE IS MISSING BRAIN PARTS." you incorporate it and his history with it so well i am super impressed always.

Li

[darjeeling]

Ummmm.... (SO UNSURE)

ironfright | Shakespeare OC

[tamitha]

DON'T BE UNSURE. I have to say that I love having a character like Puck around. Having someone with a personality the polar opposite of the usual kind you find around games, jamjar and not, is very refreshing. And I love that you don't hold back with him. Of course, my experience in playing against your Puck is somewhat more extended than others since I've tagged with him in museboxes, but still! He's fabulous and so are you, and I can't wait to see more of him around. ♥

[iminmynightie.livejournal.com]

Amy Pond ► Doctor Who ► iminmynightie
Jayne Cobb ► Firefly ► mercenaryacare

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

first off, the accent thing with jayne has improved so much since last hmd ♥

ALSO, wrt amy, i love the way you've shown her genuine caring for other people without compromising her abrasiveneness. i'd really like to see her taking the lead more often, too, which is a direct result of me watching 'the beast below' just now. MAKE PEOPLE ABDICATE THEIR THRONES, AMY.

Stella

[slayersidekick]

Willow Rosenberg ---> Buffy: the Vampire Slayer ---> slayersidekick

in b4 "tag more." I should technically go on hiatus sob. This week is going to kill me.

Re: Stella

[gogogidget.livejournal.com]

DON'T GET KILLED!

honestly, though, your willow is amazing. you do a fantastic job, from dealing with her issues with magic and the fallout there to how she handles taxon itself on the day to day. keep on being totally awesome. ♥

KaOS

[stepintoshadows.livejournal.com]

Oookay, so I SUPPOSE I SHOULD DO THIS. *nervous!face is nervous*

stepintoshadows | Rorschach | Watchmen

[inapostbag.livejournal.com]

I think you're doing a wonderful job with Rorschach! He has a very unusual manner of speaking, and I think you present it really well, without going over the top, if that makes sense. I know I would never be able to sustain his voice for any length of time, so it's very impressive to me that you manage to do it. And beyond that you also present his thoughts in meta in a way that really brings across his mindset, and his views on the world. I've enjoyed especially his kind of not-friends, not-enemies interactions with Adrian, which have an almost dysfunctional-family feeling to them.

[littlestcastle.livejournal.com]

littlestcastle || Alexis Castle || Castle

Alexis is so completely out of my normal comfort zone that any critique would be really appreciated.

[smecker.livejournal.com]

smecker

imperial_long

will get to commenting on other people's posts in here.... sometime.

[atraphoenix.livejournal.com]

I'm so late that I'm not entirely sure there is any point in commenting. But c'est la vie.

I know I've dropped the ball on tagging this month. Exam revision is really taking it out of me and, when I fall behind, I have a tendency to get so frightened about trying to catch up that I ... don't try. I'm working on that, I swear. And if there's anything you need me for, you can know where to find me.

That bit of fail aside, anything about B'Elanna, Drusilla, DG, Martha or Leela that you'd like to draw my attention to?

[aintnoconvict]

Everything I've said in the past? Totally applies. You're an amazing writer who knows how to get right to the heart of your characters and expresses it beautifully.

As for backtagging: trust me, I know how overwhelming it can get, I've been queen of the panicked threaddroppers since February. On the other hand this place thrives on bakctagging, so maybe tossing a few out to try and get the confidence back will help? (Keri said, then firmly reminded herself to take her own advice and marched off to fourth wall).

If nothing else, touch base with people in state of the Taxon and work out some handwaving ♥