A lot of unkind things have been said about David - and most of them are valid - but simp and cuck are not a diagnosis; the root of his problems are more complex, and merit a deeper discussion. My partner and I are still not seeing eye to eye about David. We both agree that Anna is a covert narcissist. We've agreed on that since we first heard her thoughts. David is a little harder to pin down. He firmly believes that David is codependent. I, on the other hand, am not yet convinced. The hallmark of a codependent person is that they have no capacity for happiness of their own. Their ability to be happy has been stunted, and they base their entire sense of self-worth on how their partner feels about them, treats them, and regards them. This is the rub. Recently, we have discussed Chris. A codependent person would have cut him out of his life the second Anna first expressed scorn for him. Narcissists are very effective in isolating their codependent partners from their friends in this fashion. David, however, stood up for his friend. That this was a bad decision in the long run is a moot point that we need not debate. The important factor is what it says about his character. There are many choices David is given in the narrative, where you can choose to cave or stand up for yourself. However, the game doesn't always let you choose. David has people-pleasing traits, and this is something that my partner agrees with, but my position is that you, as the player, get to decide whether that trait bends toward being maladaptive. Our discussion is ongoing, and will probably come to a head whenever we see how he reacts to proof of what Anna has been up to (which it seems that Kendra will only be too happy to provide). We are both curious to see if that reaction will be one of the choices we are allowed to make.
