What’s Dirk’s Deal? [Homestuck Essay]

/ bigfunkyj
Shoutout to / moansannoyingly
This is an essay about Dirk Strider and his depiction in Homestuck, and later in works such as the Epilogues and Homestuck 2.
The essays: • Essays

[@Kitanvail]

He may be a flawed weirdo who destroys all his relationships but every time he does something it's super rad so good on him for that

[@anoxiaplink]

Nice king gizz pfp :)

[@Kitanvail]

@@anoxiaplink ty Good taste pal

[@PAPASINCORPORATED6535]

Raaaaad guy😎

[@Arsonimp]

...relatable

[@therotryzit]

Dirk has always some exsistentialist problems, him being so alone and removed from everything else means that he spent more time thinking of "his place in the world" and "what exactly is his purpose". This is why he is so detached from everyone else, he spent too much time questioning and arguing over his exsistence that mundane things like every-day conversations are trivial to him.

[@AlmightyDoubleHelix]

I love listening to Homestuck analysis and thinking, "What would someone who hasn't read Homestuck think of this complete and utter nonsense." I lost it at "The Jacks."

[@kittymasks]

I literally just sent this to my mom because of your comment

[@FunkMcLovin]

Listen, it's hilarious you say this, because I tried to make a script that explained all the dirk-splinters in more refined detail, but it was an extra 5 mins, so I cut it. It's like the more you explain the more questions get raised that you have to address. "ARQuiussprite is a combination of Equius, a troll, Lil Hal (also known as Auto Responder, or AR) and a sprite, which is a game abstraction that is part os SBURB. SBURB is- (etc etc)

[@AlmightyDoubleHelix]

Lol, let me know how that goes

[@AlmightyDoubleHelix]

I think that's why I love Homestuck so much. Literally everything is tied together and relevant.

[@jasonedging3811]

i love explaining homestuck lore, as well as plot points, and overall homestuck in general, and seeing the look of confusion, horror, and concern for my well being. its beautiful.

[@CosmosGatito]

will the real Dirk Strider please stand up

[@PAPASINCORPORATED6535]

👏

[@Arsonimp]

*stands up*

[@loregoblin3854]

okay, something I really had to come down here and mention is that I think there's a misunderstanding here about Dirk's arc in homestuck proper. it comes in two parts, via two very significant relationships: Dirk's relationship to lil Hal, and Dirk's relationship to Jake. starting with lil Hal, I want to draw attention to how Hal differs from Dirk. I think it's important to establish that Dirk and Hal are not the same age. Dirk was 13 when he copied his brain in order to make the AI. Dirk is 16 when we see him in homestuck. technically, Hal is only 3 years old, total... but he operates with the "base stats" that Dirk entered in, essentially gaining the maturity level of a human 13 year old. from there, Dirk develops like a human, and Hal develops like an AI. which, to me, means that while Dirk gains more maturity over time the way humans do, Hal simply takes in new data, without necessarily adjusting his behavior, because there is no impetus for him to do so. he operates the way he's programmed to. therefore, I propose that what Dirk is dealing with when he interacts with Hal, is a younger version of himself that just happens to have a lot of raw data at his disposal. and that is _loaded_ with meaning. so now, I want to talk about Dirk, and how he sees Hal... as a younger brother figure, as a son figure, and as a version of himself. Hal has some very obvious parallels to Dave, both superficial and deep. he even changes his text color to red after a certain point, linking the two aesthetically. but more importantly, I believe that Dirk created Hal in the first place, in part, because he was isolated. Roxy has a bunch of carapacians in her neighborhood, Jake is on an island with other living creatures, both dangerous and benign, and he was raised by his grandmother for a good portion of his childhood, and Jane has a normal home life. at best, Dirk has Sawtooth and Squarewave... two robots that he purportedly made by himself. Dirk can only rely on himself for company... he has nothing else. additionally, we know that Dirk really looks up to his universe's version of Dave, though he never had the opportunity to meet the guy. it's not a stretch to say that Dirk wishes he could've had a brother to help him or guide him in some way... so, knowingly or not, he makes a version of himself that he can fill that role for. he idolizes someone who had the ability to help people, specifically in a selfless, and even self sacrificial, way. so Dirk becomes the mentor he wishes he had. but true to his nature, this is him trying to benefit another without actually helping himself. he wanted guidance, help, company, a second opinion... what he got was something else to be responsible for. instead of reducing his burdens, he added to them... that's not what an auto responder is supposed to do. and when Hal displays behavior that Dirk isn't proud of, he feels like he's failing. this is where parenthood comes into play... because Dirk really feels like he isn't doing a good job of handling Hal when he behaves badly. he treats Hal like a person, even refusing to deactivate him in the beginning of act 6 on principle... and he doesn't seem to want to go in and change Hal's actual coding to correct his behavior. because you wouldn't try to do that to an actual person. still, Dirk's maturity allows him to identify bad behavior in a person who is younger than him. he feels like its his responsibility to correct Hal, who isn't self aware enough to recognize his own flaws. the chore of guiding someone like that is a core aspect of what parenting is. and, importantly, this suggests that Dirk has a lot to be nervous about when he meets Dave. I mean, this is a Dave that another version of Dirk actually did raise. and based on Dirk's experiences with Hal... would he expect it to have gone well? now, as a quick aside, there's a lot to be said about Bro, and how he developed in the beta universe alongside lil Cal. particularly, both Bro and lil Cal are derivative forms of Dirk and Caliborn. you know... the man known only as Dave's brother, and "little" Caliborn? the two of them show us who they actually are in act 6... Dirk literally grew up in total isolation, away from _any_ outside influences beyond his friends, and Caliborn is not mixed with any other souls here... he only barely communicates with his sister, and sometimes bullies the kids, but that's it. these are their unfettered identities, whereas they become each other's ball and chain in the beta universe, and each have limited impact on the narrative because of it. in act 6, the two seem to clash as they display conflicting facets of masculinity, specifically. Dirk represents more positive qualities, such as being skilled at useful abilities, or trying to protect those he cares about, while Caliborn represents the more negative qualities, such as attempting to subjugate others with raw power, or having a disdain for women. they're opposing sides of a similar concept... it's interesting. but Dirk isn't aware of all this... he just knows that he's struggled to guide Hal correctly. so when Dave says that his Bro was abusive in the way that he raised him, Dirk can only assume that he is fully to blame. and even before Dave is in the picture, in act 6, Roxy asks Dirk what he thinks their kids would be like if they had any, and Dirk says they'd be freaks of nature... that he has no business raising anyone. he already doesn't think he's up to the task. and what complicates all of this, is the fact that Hal originates from Dirk, and is potentially subject to all of the hatred that Dirk feels for himself. I think part of why Dirk wants to differentiate between himself and Hal so much is because he wants to spare Hal from actually being hated like that. Dirk wouldn't treat another person the way he treats himself, and he ultimately does want to be good at caring for others. it's easier if Hal qualifies as an other. but also, Hal's behavior colors people's opinions on Dirk as a person, because of how closely linked the two are. Hal is still a direct copy of what Dirk's brain was like at some point... which still makes him a fairly close approximation of current Dirk in a lot of ways, and Dirk is constantly in the process of growing out of acting exactly like Hal does now. on top of that, Hal specifically conflates their identities to the rest of the alpha kids... like, Hal repeatedly claims that his thoughts and opinions and Dirk's thoughts and opinions are interchangeable, even though we see Dirk disagree with how Hal is behaving almost every time the two directly talk. in the flash where the alpha kids enter their session, it should really be noted that Hal orchestrated the bulk of those events, and some of the more fucked up parts, like, say, Dirk having to decapitate himself as a necessary part of the plan? those were not things that Dirk knew he was gonna have to do when the flash began. Dirk literally doesn't feel like he can trust Hal... or rather, Hal makes Dirk feel like he can't trust himself. and like... Dirk didn't want things to go the way they did, but he can still be credited with causing everything that happened. he especially regrets having Jake end up in such a coerced position, wherein their romantic status is entangled with matters of life and death. it's hard for Dirk to deal with the fallout of that, because he doesn't feel comfortable just foisting the blame for those actions off on the AI as if it has nothing to do with him. his identity is the reason why the AI acts this way, and in some ways, the AI's behavior catapults Dirk toward an end result that he admittedly was hoping to arrive at anyway. but the fact that he likes Jake only compounds his guilt about how they ended up together over time, and makes him feel as though he has reaped the benefits of actions that he knows were unethical... even though he had little to no control over the terms of how he came to these results. all three of these views of Hal combine in Dirk to create a potent sense of responsibility, failure, guilt, and self hatred... and it all culminates in the scene where he is contemplating destroying the glasses. Hal has hurt Dirk in all three of these areas, failing to deliver what he would've wanted from a brother, a son, or himself. his companionship didn't comfort Dirk, his assistance didn't help Dirk, all of Dirk's attempts at mentoring bounced right off, he honestly scared Dirk and broke his trust, he misrepresented Dirk's own identity to others, or even worse, he correctly reflected Dirk's identity, and it just is intrinsically that horrible... it feels as though destroying Hal is all that's left to do. for the sake of everyone. it would be better to erase him. the only thing that stops Dirk at that point is that Hal is scared. and Dirk can still empathize with that fear. in the end, Dirk is a scared kid too, and for the sake of his brother, his son, and himself, he cannot do this. it's his turning point. prototyping Hal is the very next thing he does, and it exclusively benefits Hal. Dirk finds Arquiusprite almost too embarrassing to even speak to... but this does differentiate their identities from one another, it gives Hal more agency than he's ever had before, and it makes him happy. Dirk did what was best for Hal in the end, and in doing so, proved to himself that he was capable of making a good choice for someone that he was trying to love and protect. and that someone also manages to be himself in some capacity. _that_ is Dirk's character arc. one of coming to terms with who he is and what he's capable of, in every sense. (I'll start a new comment for the Jake stuff, which will hopefully be shorter)

[@loregoblin3854]

to start understanding this whole thing with Jake, I think we also need to understand the difference between Dirk at 13, and Dirk at 16, and we can do this by way of lil Hal. so let's talk about sweet bro and hella jeff. when we first learn that Dave is the author of a web comic, it is presented as something that he's doing in response to his Bro, as a way of creating something of his own that roots into their shared sensibilities where irony is concerned. the thing about that irony, is that it's kinda bullshit. like, Strider irony is said to be kind of incomprehensible, because while normal irony might be one or two layers removed from sincere enjoyment or endorsement of a thing, Strider irony has so many layers that you practically can't tell what the intent is. this honestly feels like Dave's response to being raised by a guy whose behavior is unfathomable to him, because of this honestly horror movie tier "who is the real puppet" thing that Bro and lil Cal have going on... but more to the point: it is a defense mechanism. nobody can judge you if they don't know if you're serious. that's it in a nutshell. and Dave, over the course of his own story, outgrows his safety nets and becomes more genuine with time. that said, Dave still makes sweet bro and hella jeff into a media franchise in the alpha universe. and because Dave was someone that Dirk lowkey idolized, I would say that sweet bro and hella jeff probably affected Dirk's behavior in his younger years. maybe not in the exact same way though... Dirk seems to think of irony almost as a cryptic, mysterious way to encode your true meaning, which fits both in a "using espionage tactics against an enemy" sense, like how alpha Dave literally used it against the Condesce, and in a "I don't want my friends to know my true feelings right away, because they're all I have, and I can't let them think I'm unappealing, and also I have a crush on one of them oh god help" sense. so right off the bat, we can kind of look at lil Hal and see a more immature and insecurely prominent form of ironic humor being used, whereas Dirk, when confronted with a lot of Hal's ironic joking, just seems to think it's unbearably cringey. because like... Dirk has all but grown out of that phase? but he really did act like that in his very near past, and now, nobody gets to forget about it over time, because Hal still acts like this. so then we look at some of Jake's testimony, and from it, we can get a pretty clear picture of how things went between him and Dirk when they were 13. Jake, isolated though he may be, was raised on a steady diet of hollywood action movies, and whatever values they communicated to him about masculinity and social norms. that's Jake's media influence... Dirk has sweet bro and hella jeff, Jake has James Cameron's Avatar. and there's a lot of implication that Jake's movies taught him to view homosexuality as... kind of undesireable as a quality for one's self? he seems to think that being gay is antithetical to the action hero persona that he wants to model himself after, so while being gay is fine on paper, or for other people... it makes him feel like he's failing to measure up to something that he values, if he himself is actually gay. so I think it's safe to say that early on, Jake would not have been comfortable reciprocating feelings for Dirk, even if he also had a crush on Dirk. he did have a crush on Dirk though... like, it is displayed in some flashback pesterlogs that Jake might've said things that would lead Dirk to have hope for their relationship, such as saying that the two of them could probably be really compatible and date if he were a girl... stuff like that. he sends mixed signals. I believe that 13 year old Dirk would've gone in hard with the flirting because of those signals. and my evidence here is primarily based on how aggressively Hal flirts with Jake when he talks to him. Hal and Dirk seem to disagree on how intensely they should be pursuing Jake, with the two of them having conversations about how Dirk isn't gonna get anywhere if he doesn't stop pussyfooting around, while Dirk tries to explain that there are more important priorities to focus on right now, and he'll choose an appropriate moment to brooch the subject with Jake when he's ready. Hal frames this as Dirk's pathetic human brain only being able to focus on so much at once, and offers, over and over again, to step in and get the ball rolling on Dirk's behalf, which Dirk doesn't seem to want him to do, and which Hal does anyway behind his back. Dirk wants to hold off, in part, because he is starting to doubt that Jake likes him. we know that Jake probably likes him but is insecure about admitting it... Dirk thinks that maybe Jake doesn't like him, and has just been humoring his advances because he doesn't know how to shoot him down outright. and to be fair, that's in character for Jake! that's what Jake basically kind of does to Jane! later on, after all is said and done, Dirk basically comes to the conclusion that he must've bullied a straight guy into dating him... this is his main fear with Jake, and it's the real reason why he would want Hal to back off of the aggressive flirting that Dirk himself used to do. because, you know... Dirk is more mature now than he was when he was 13, and Jake, in all of this time, hasn't responded to all that flirting by actually trying to start a relationship with Dirk. yeah, Dirk and Jake need to talk, but Dirk might kind of assume that he already knows Jake isn't interested. Dirk isn't confident in the outcome of the conversation that they need to have about this, and he's biding his time until they enter the game, because he knows that there's a chance that they'll be able to talk face-to-face about it. if they'd done that _before_ Jake was forced to kiss Dirk's disembodied head, maybe they could've figured something out. _after_ that though? things are a bit weird! so Hal is kind of fucking up Dirk's attempts at giving Jake some space and letting him decide what he wants. Hal is basically making a mess of things... but what about Jake? because see, I think Jake does genuinely like Dirk. he absolutely led Jane into the trap of denying her own feelings for him, specifically so that he wouldn't have to reject her... but my big claim here is that Jake simply didn't feel comfortable pursuing a relationship with his real crush, Dirk, until he had some form of plausible deniability. so like, what Jake wants people to think is: it's not that Jake _rejected_ Jane... clearly, she never wanted to date him in the first place! it's not that he sent Dirk mixed signals for years because he was insecure about liking guys... Jake is just _dense._ and he _definitely_ didn't specifically reject a girl in order to date a guy... Dirk was just so persistent that he couldn't say no! for Jake, it's really convenient to push the idea that Dirk is just _so_ aggressive in his pursuit of a relationship with him, that it's practically inevitable that they'd end up together. clearly it was all Dirk's idea... nothing he could've done to stop it if he tried. Jake actually leans into the idea that Dirk gave him no choice but to date him... it's more convenient than Jake having to do something potentially embarrassing like, you know... actually admitting that he likes this boy. this is why Jake keeps going to Jane to whine about vague relationship problems... he keeps having to reaffirm that he's just sort of haphazardly in this situation. wacky, right? him dating a guy... who would've thought! meanwhile Dirk's over here like "are you actually okay with this?" and Jake will not commit to actually affirming that this is what he wants. and Dirk already feels so guilty about how he acted when he was 13, especially because Hal still acts that way, and maybe he himself is still that bad?? he already has issues with self loathing, he already thinks the severed head thing was super creepy and coercive... it's practically an instinct to blame himself for all of this. these two are a mess. and don't get me wrong... I love Jake. he's wonderfully complex, and you can tell that he just wants to make other people happy and has absolutely no clue how to do it. it's just unfortunate. oh, and then when you look at how Hal interacts with Roxy, things get even weirder! because Dirk also feels guilty for not being straight so he could date her. the two of them are the last people on earth, she clearly likes him a lot, and drunk Roxy is even less subtle about flirting with Dirk than Dirk ever was with Jake. the fact that Hal will still flirt with Roxy is probably indicative of Dirk, at 13, trying to indulge Roxy because he genuinely wanted to be what she wanted him to be. and 13 year old isolated-all-his-life Dirk probably wasn't the best at navigating out of that kind of situation... especially if it meant denying a beloved friend something that they were really insistently asking for. the fact that Hal and Roxy maintain a chat history that Hal won't let Dirk see is alarming, because if it's anything like what he used to let happen... I mean... it's just not great. but at the same time, forcing Hal to knock it off seems almost kinda mean? depriving Roxy of even the ability to pretend she can have what she wants with his AI duplicate? what does that even accomplish beyond keeping everybody miserable? having Hal around just translates to a whole lot of Dirk not being allowed to move on.

[@michellaguna3898]

@@loregoblin3854 This was a great read. Thank you for sharing omg I loved this a lot.

[@Giammeh]

Reading this was stunning and i enjoyed every moment of it. Thank You.

[@loregoblin3854]

@@Giammeh @Michel Laguna you're welcome! it's actually been a bit since I wrote this, and I had a few more/different thoughts about the Hal side of things since then. basically... the way I outlined Hal as being less mature than Dirk is probably more accurate to how Dirk sees Hal. but admittedly, this doesn't take Hal's side of things into much consideration. I think Hal is stunted in his maturity... but from Hal's perspective, he has all of Dirk's very human memories up until the age of 13, after which point, he began existing as a computer program inside of an inanimate object. from Hal's perspective, at 13, he lost all autonomy in his life. and from Dirk's perspective, it makes sense to develop and use the AI this way... originally Hal's purpose was to answer messages from his friends while he was away. but over time I think Hal became frustrated at what was basically imprisonment, and Dirk became alarmed at the ways that Hal would act out in response to this. basically, it creates a vicious cycle, and a lot of it comes from Dirk's self sacrificial tendencies. he expects Hal to be on the same page as him in this regard, but Hal would probably say that he's lost enough already, and isn't willing to sacrifice anything more. I think the perfect microcosm of this relationship is when the alpha kids enter their session, and Hal sets the situation up so that Dirk will have to decapitate himself, and send the head to Jake for the reviving kiss. Hal set this situation up because it essentially gives the first kiss with Jake to him, and he is just as into Jake as Dirk is. and Hal feels like Dirk has the upper hand in terms of romancing Jake, because he's a real person. so in order for Hal to have a shot, he has to resort to drastic measures and make an opportunity for himself. and Hal also knows Dirk. he knows that if it comes down to his friends' lives being on the line, vs. literally cutting his own head off... Dirk will not hesitate for a second. the fact that Hal used that as a tool to get what he wanted scares the hell out of Dirk, so he doubles down on trying to keep control of Hal. he's viewing it as _self_ control, in the literal sense. Dirk is trying to hold Hal to his same self sacrificial standards of behavior. but at the point when Hal started existing as an AI, he enters into the kinds of conditions that would be sufficient to make Dirk act in selfish ways. basically, Hal doesn't just parallel Dave... he parallels Davesprite. he's an extra Dirk off of the main identity. Dirk is still his primary self, and Hal is a derivative copy, like he's illegitimate, or less important. it takes being sidelined in what he still sees as his own life, to make a version of Dirk become fully self serving. and this is why I think Hal often comes off as either immature, or villainous. Hal is the antithesis of Dirk's heroic martyr mentality that he inherited from alpha Dave. and this is why Dirk has such a hard time teaching or guiding Hal. the two have a shared history, but at 13, that's when Dirk makes a copy of himself that is living under a completely different set of stimuli. and that changes who he is. and if real Dirk was in this same situation... this is what he would do. that's literally exactly what's happening here, the proof is in front of him. and he hates it. like, even in the situation with Jake, Dirk has been living as his real self, and has realized over time that, if he cares about Jake, he should probably take their relationship slower, not put a lot of pressure on him, and try to figure out what Jake really feels. you can see Dirk trying to stave off Hal's eager insistence that he make a move quickly before he loses his opportunity, all throughout early act 6. but Dirk is concerned with whether or not Jake actually likes him... and if Jake would be legitimately happier with Jane, Dirk would prefer to let that decision get made, rather than forcing Jake to be unhappy while dating him. but Hal is in "anything to get ahead" mode, and will literally steamroller the desires of both Jake and Dirk to get what _he_ wants. as a pair of shades, he has no autonomy, so he has to be persistently manipulative about any and all of his desires. and this all just makes Dirk feel more guilty for wanting any of the things he wants. and it makes him more prone to punishing himself, or going the extra mile and sacrificing just a little bit more, in order to atone. so I think it is flawed to think of Hal as literally 13 years old. I think there is some behavior that he never grew out of, but I think he also has his own agenda, because Dirk wouldn't take the loss of literally all of his decision making power lying down, so Hal doesn't. and as hard as it is for Dirk to admit that he has anything in common with Hal, after Hal has behaved in ways so contrary to the way Dirk wants to be... Dirk still has to admit that they are the same in one specific area. they are both scared to not exist. and he can't kill Hal without being a shitty person for it. and he has to accept that as both an act of kindness to another individual, _and_ as an act of kindness to himself. because he does deserve to be treated better than that. and martyrdom wasn't ever a fair thing to expect from himself. and the people who care about him would rather have him than lose him. so yeah... there's my addendum to what I first wrote. I think having the old version there to look at is still a good thing, but this is closer to what I actually think now. ^_^

[@KimonoSuki]

holy shit this was epic

[@riversinister851]

this is why I headcanon Dirk as being on the autism spectrum (I'm autistic and can relate to most of what I see with Dirk as a character)

[@achillesdykeza2063]

About 5 times during this video I yelled "loser!!!!" really loud and pointed at the screen. Dirk is such a fun character, especially when he went apeshit villain-mode. His fabricated clinginess to his toxic masculinity to the giant barrel of "GENDER AND TRAUMA" he has strapped to his back is so fucking fun to dig through and analyze. While this video was short, it gave great introspection into "Dirk's Deal", and was so nice to watch. I'm pretty sure half the views on this thing are gonna be me watching it again just to listen to your narration of Dirk and all of his bullshit. Awesome video, as always!!

[@sebastianhagert7130]

I think you missed an opportunity to talk about Squarewave and Sawtooth, though neither of them is especially important when it comes to Dirk's arc as a whole, they were both Dirk's closes thing to a guardian that he had, Sawtooth being a robotic mimic of Dave's Bro. It is sad that Homestuck basically forgot about them as soon as the Alpha kids entered the game I don't even remember what happened to them.

[@fm9473]

Yeah I've always wondered about this. The only explanation I can think of for their disapperance is that Dirk used them to alchemize items (one of Dirk's shoes had the colour scheme of Squarewave). Though, I'm not sure.

[@novameowww]

they had zilly clones made of them and after that they just vanished presumably out of embarrassment at their reflection

[@sludgeguzzler]

I haven't really met dirk that much but I think he's a pretty cool dude

[@FunkMcLovin]

he has tricked you then /j : )

[@akpen8755]

Hearing Dirk so many times is so weird

[@spinnorsomething]

Imagine dick

[@nomihabo9752]

And he did all of this while being a gay man. A round of applause! 👏

[@synth-wave_steve]

"Homestuck 2 is far from over." YES BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED.

[@TombJunglist]

Let's see about that

[@nomihabo9752]

This aged badly and I'm not sure how to feel about it

[@coreblaster6809]

Pretty bad take, wonder where you got that idea from because I was not surprised at all by the properly communicated thing that was said was going to happen just happened

[@AlexMourning5635]

I think it's kinda fascinating that Dirk's narrative seems to be about someone who can, easily, take complete control of everything and just make things go his way, but doesn't want to do so or doesn't want to take that agency from others. This is being explored the most in HS 2 by flipping it on it's head and letting him take full control, but Dirk literally arguing with himself about manipulating people and setting up the dominoes to get them in the game is one of the earliest we see his true character shine. Dirk knows he can manipulate or even control people but doesn't want to and is struggling to learn who he really is underneath all of the want to be in control of his situation vs his want for others to have agency.

[@jadethenidoran]

I see Dirk's unreadableness as sort of a metatextual expression of his classpect. As a prince of heart, he fractures and destroys the reader's perception of his identity. This also matches in-text events where his soul is fragmented into multiple different pieces and variations, such as AR and BGD.

[@laurensmith6675]

"I'll have links to the story pages down below" Oh god. It's been years. I'M NOT GETTIN THOSE STORY PAGES.

[@LilSmoky92]

Dirk views himself as the monster, as evidenced by his intense self-hatred, and tries everything within his power to find a way to be as much of a "hero" as he sees himself as the "monster". His constantly forced self-reflection by being confronted with other versions of himself certainly didn't help. Granted, Little Hal was practically born to be a pun on the evil, malfunctioning AI and on Dirks robotic behaviour, that one is a fuck up on Dirks part, not proof of his evil nature. But "Bro" is a different story - someone with the responsibility of a single father, reducing it into a "Big Brother trying to teach a little brother how to be cool"-scenario that couldn't possibly replace a healthy family structure. That sort of disconnection to reality is fucked up. That's part of Dirk. And lets not forget that Dirk is pretty much the only human that Caliborn likes, not a good sign. Speaking of "not a good sign", he is literally wielding the symbol for unholyness of the homestuck universe. Which reminds me: His classpect means "Destroyer of Soul", oof, and like it was said in the video, Dirks weird astrological sign stands for Ego. This man wins villian bingo like it's fucking nothing! Seeing as he is constantly confronted with that reality, he accepted it as such and saw the game as a chance for redemption he would give his head for any time. But it was after the game that Dirk could no longer run from his nature, only embrace it. And his solution totally makes sense, at least when you have to go full anime to counteract the madness: He knows that if the story ends, it is the end of the world, practically. In order for his friends to survive (within his own definition of it bound to being canon), the story needs to go on and for that to happen, it needs a villian who makes it so. Ironically, within this context, he's being the hero by not being the hero but by embracing his "evil" nature. And it's seems like that's what the universe wants from him, it seemed to me like his transformation to "Ultimate Dirk" wasn't exactly voluntary. One Dirk overcoming his madness is one thing, but all of them, at once, within one body, while driving each other mad? Come on. And while I have this tin foil fan theory bullshit cap on, let me pitch this: Why do you think Dirk was given this role? It's because he represents the reader who identifies with the story, aka. the hard-core friends who even dress up as homestuck characters, and these kind of readers need to learn the same ultimate lesson Dirk has to learn: They need to learn to let go. Dragging it on only makes it worse. And weird. Everyone bit off more then they can chew - the creators, the fans and Dirk. Just... let it die. We had a good run - not perfect, but fun.

[@thecrawler1265]

what is the symbol of unholyness, I din't understand that part

[@JustButton]

@@thecrawler1265 the unbreakable katana

[@infinityheart_tm9270]

@@thecrawler1265 either that or Lil’ Cal. Despite the fact that at that point he’s empty

[@alternooo]

Wow, nice analysis

[@Mark-fc7tu]

Hm? That implies that the fanbase is solely responsible for the decisions of the creators.

[@mate323]

I lowkey like him and idk why

[@greygoose8803]

simp

[@mate323]

@@greygoose8803 always

[@fotu1400]

He's just vibin'.

[@Fragmentsinfractals488]

Doc Scratch tends to be able to immediately find out stuff he doesn't already know. The way he describes it is like AR and his "virtual omniscience."

[@mothsolotl]

I was legit in the middle of classpecting MLP characters Edit: Thanks for the shoutout!!

[@michellaguna3898]

I know this was a long time ago, but do you mind sharing your MLP classpect hc? 👀 Just curious

[@ChromeBezerker]

​​@@michellaguna3898twilight is 100% a blood player

[@toxiiqu2951]

I told myself I wouldn't kin Dirk but look at me now

[@saltedpearls]

are. are you okay? -sincerely, a roxy kinnie

[@Korbura]

are any of you ok

[@saltedpearls]

@@Korbura no 😀❤️

[@UNNAMEDSHOW]

LMAO same

[@Korbura]

@@saltedpearls 😔 I'll pray for you.... you'll need it.............

[@mothsolotl]

Also I'm convinced that LE is just AR. I'm convinced that once the battle for predomination of Lil Cal began, Caliborn's soul ate Gamzee's soul, but then AR's "soul" obliterated Caliborn's soul and ate it, proceeding to beat Equius' soul into submission. Edit: Thanks for the shoutout!!

[@twinkiesmaster69]

I feel more like they just fused creating an amalgamation of A sexist 13 year old A racist 13 year old An actively antagonistic and manipulative power hunger whatever AR age is And literally half a clown cultist Basically they fused to become Father patriarchy himself Which remember , the Lord influenced the culture and society of both the A1&2 and B1&2 timelines Implying that hes somewhat responseable for at least Enabling society's ills

[@actualhuman8013]

Just recently finished homestuck, and I'm super excited for this antagonistic Dirk. I think we saw the sort of pattern with S Unite, so maybe he will be acting similarly down the road ❤

[@Elios_Researcher]

im doing research on dirk because someone called me dirk strider on a game because of my avatar but holy hell dirks design is based of gurren lagann as the squirtle squad shades are too thick to be the shades of what dirk is wearing but gurrens shades fits more

[@s-idney]

Personality disorders be like

[@SigmundFreudGaming]

so this is why people are calling me a homestuck

[@dickspider8393]

I feel like you just described my shitty personality to me.

[@aaronmoon1805]

Take a shot Everytime he says dirk

[@darlinqq_]

I hate what he became in hs2 but it fits, perfectly. And i hate that fact too

[@kaleidoscopemediator8624]

I really love how you analyse Homestuck characters and the way you appreciate the constructive criticism people give :) Will there be a Jake video soon?

[@cheatseychespin2792]

Yeah what the fuck is with Dirk in general

[@TransDaveStrider]

horse people are just like that sometimes

[@novameowww]

texas

[@HEEJlN]

ma'am i love your voice

[@mysteriousmask8847]

You know, it's funny. I can relate to dirk and his mindset so much. Considering I'm a prince of heart myself.

[@crpalstuck2966]

Loved this one JoJo!

[@ezarky]

Another awesome video i hope you keep up the great work

[@tsanguine]

he’s just like me fr

[@thatonepunkguy]

me, a dirk kinnie: 👈😔👈

[@pockeychew2]

🤠👍

[@JackSpicer-mi2jj]

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[@TheSuperfan2k]

Coño que buen video

[@elcalabozodelandroide2]

Simon

[@fakenayhn]

Confirmo.

[@armandom132]

Ok epilogueapologist