man i never thought i’d get into the dirkscourse in december of 2016 but here i am
i think their relationship throughout act 6 was unhealthy and fraught with problems, but i don’t think it was abusive. i think the interpretation of dirk as jake’s abuser is somewhat valid and has a small amount of evidence behind it, but most of the textual evidence contradicts that, and it’s not the interpretation i subscribe to.
much of my opinion on this was formed by reading this four-part essay, which is long but well-written, and definitely worth reading: part one, part two, part three, part four.
you can read the parts in whatever order you want, if you’re not up to tackling it all at once. the essay is backed up by a huge amount of evidence and i really appreciate how sympathetic and understanding the writer is when discussing the opposing point of view.
i think one of the reasons dirkjake was so discourse-y was because while
act 6 was happening, it was really hard to take in the full picture. i
read a lot of act 6 as an archival reader, and even then it was hard to
figure out who was responsible for what. one of the core problems in dirk and jake’s relationship was the muddle between dirk and his proxies — the fandom would read a recent update, go “oh my god!!! i can’t believe dirk would do something so awful!” only to realize later that “dirk” was really AR. that initial impression would linger, and many people would argue, “well, the AR is just his personality in a different form, right? and even if they’re separate beings, isn’t the AR still dirk’s fault?”both of those beliefs are fundamentally unfounded, and i would explain why, but i’m worried i’ll fuck it up… so instead PLEASE go read those essays, they’re so good.
another core reason dirkjake became so fraught with discourse was because of the habit of taking homestuck characters at face value. to quote that essay i love so goddamn much:
“Dirk is assigned a lot more competency than he really deserves. But in reality, most of Dirk’s narrative is focused on all the ways Dirk finds himself losing control… As far as
manipulative masterminds go, Dirk is a failure. He fails at executing
his plans continually, spectacularly, and with catastrophic
consequences. He’s not good at multitasking and he’s not particularly great
at orchestrating the kids’ entry to the session (the AR does most of that). And
yet, for many Homestuck fans, he takes the lion’s share of the credit
(and the blame) for the ridiculous time-loop he participates in during
[S] Unite and [S] Synchronize.”tl;dr — people interpret dirk a puppetmaster because he presents himself that way — he tells everyone he knows what he’s doing because he wishes he were.
i’m hard-pressed to think of a single character in the comic whose outward facade matches their true self. no one, not even john, is completely honest about themselves.
one thing that essay doesn’t tackle is: many people view dirk as an abuser because at one point, he thinks he is one.
dirk obviously has depression. at one point he attempts to destroy the AR, and by proxy himself, in a crippling bout of suicidal ideation. that sequence of events is where a lot of fans get to say “but even he admits he was abusive to jake!”
but i’m not sure why everyone just takes that statement at face value.
when i see a character saying “i hate myself, i ruin the lives of everyone i care about” while the story shows that they were not at fault (PLEASE read those essays), i don’t think “wow, they’re such an awful person,” i think “wow, they have depression.”
finally, i’d like to note one more thing.
i believe that fiction should be evaluated separately from the creator’s intent, so i don’t think hussie’s intention should determine whether or not you interpret dirkjake as abusive (as opposed to unhealthy for other reasons). but i seriously doubt hussie intended to portray dirk as an abuser.
homestuck is a comic where female characters are just as nuanced as male characters, where the longest-lasting and healthiest romantic relationship is between two girls, where the villains embody heteromasculine ideals and the heroes have beautifully written, thoughtful coming-out narratives. why on earth would andrew hussie upturn that by writing in dirk strider as the gay predator archetype? how the hell does homestuck, of all pieces of media, accommodate a storyline about a gay teen as a cruel, manipulative predator who abuses other teenagers into fulfilling his sexual desires? it makes no sense.
i want to be clear, since this is easy to take the wrong way in wonderful discourse-filled tumblr land — i’m not saying that believing that dirkjake was abusive makes you homophobic, or that it makes you the kind of person who buys into those narratives. it’s not your fault for reading the text differently. you might think that canon includes all that nasty stuff even if you would’ve done differently if you were in hussie’s shoes.
and if dirk and jake’s dynamic reminds you of abuse you’ve experienced yourself, then i’m not asking you to somehow undo your triggers or your perception of their relationship for the sake of understanding my argument. they’re just fictional characters, after all.
and if you want to argue with me about my opinion, or present evidence to the contrary, please do! i love talking about this stuff, and if i’ve forgotten something crucial or am just plain wrong, i’ll try to acknowledge it.
at the moment though, i personally, fervently believe that dirk and jake’s arc is not about abuse. it’s about another core theme of homestuck: the dangers of forcing too many expectations onto yourself, the dangers of trying to become an idealized version of yourself instead of accepting your own imperfections. you see it in terezi, in vriska, in rose, in karkat, in dave, in virtually every single character, including jake english and dirk strider.
beyond all the problems of dirk’s splinter selves, what tore dirk and jake’s relationship apart was emotional distrust and an inability to communicate. dirk couldn’t show jake emotion or vulnerability once they were together in person because he was terrified that by letting go of his image as ultra-competent and infallible, he would be failing jake — and jake couldn’t communicate his anxiety about their relationship because he was terrified of being any less than the superhuman movie hero he wanted to be.
i’ll end by reiterating that you really really really should read those essays, and also this reconciliation fic by the same author; they’re both fantastic and nuanced and wonderfully written.
aaaaaaand that’s it, that’s my dirkscourse, folks!
I’m going to cry. I’m so glad to see this and to feel like I made a difference in your understanding of Dirk and Jake and my only wish is that I could write about Homestuck more. It’s all I really want to do with absolute passion so I’m glad that people feel I can at least do it well.
I dont know what to say just. Thank you. Thanks so much this means a lot to me, especially now
Flying through Storytelling 