see its great and funny because what started me on this path was the realization that dirkjake was a way, way, way better love story than anyone in the fandom was giving it credit for outside of v small circles, which led to a DESPERATE desire to figure out how to articulate what i saw in it and elevate it in the fandom conversation
and the way i see it im basically literally fueled by the inspiration i draw from these incredibly believable and human characters. i love them all and i wanna learn about them and make it so other people love them too. And Dirk & Jake have a unique power over me in this regard because i relate to them so hard on every level.
So like, i dont think its a stretch to say I’m kinda actually fueled by dirkjake fanart. Your drawing of dirk and jake w/ the heart had me thinking bout them a lot the last couple days and brought me to some stunning revelations about Jake, gonna have to post abt that soon…
So obvs it meant a lot to hear ive been able to repay even a fraction of that. Thank you. Know that my earnest endeavor in all that I do is ultimately in the service of a world where theres just…more fuckin dirkjake fanart and people enjoy their story as much as i do.
thats what keeps me going. so theres nothing more motivating to me than artists like you out there. You keep doing cool stuff, yourself. 🙂
i will say that i’ve heard somewhere that jane could be talking about ectobiology here. and she could be. but i think her comments on jake’s body give it a sexual meaning, and also, if the roles were reversed and it was a guy saying, “your only value is being hot and i’m going to force you to have children with me,” it would not be ambiguous.
(also the prime time of jake’s life was after the brobot was in it which reveals that he never really found the robot more of an annoyance and inconvenience at times and certainly not as a sexual threat. because jake is scared right now, and i posit that if the robot really had been that kind of threat, jake would not be wishing to return to a time where it was in his life but i digress.)
“no, why does everyone want to kiss me? aranea, stop!”
context: this is after the conversation with crockertier jane. aranea has said before that she knows jake is attracted to her. she is about to “heal” jake and turn his hope powers up to maximum radiance and was going to do it by kissing him. jake Does Not Want to be kissed.
this is brain ghost dirk, during jake and crockertier jane’s conversation.
“look at our god tier pajamas. i look really stupid and it’s weird that my leg hair is gone! but i think your pajamas are decent.”
(and then like twenty minutes later brain ghost dirk, who canonically represents jake’s subconscious desires and understanding, calls himself jake’s boyfriend.)
like you don’t have to care or believe me. i’m sure i skipped some things but these conversations which all happen really close together have always really stuck out to me. but i’m just saying, please listen to what jake is actually saying and thinking. he’s not scared of dirk.
have i ever responded to a homestuck question by calling it stupid or making fun of someone?
Serious question. If I make someone feel stupid wrt Homestuck, I’m inclined to believe I’ve done something wrong, because that’s not what I’m here to do. This comic is overwrought and complicated and intricately woven, I’m just trying to make it easier for people like you (and I! I’m always learning more about the comic as I talk about it w/ other people) to parse.
it took me like seven years to feel like i even halfway understand this particular relationship and i still feel like i’m missing stuff wrt most of the comic, so I guess all I’m trying to say is…don’t worry bro? you’re good.
The key point here is Dirk never shows any indication of being aware of Brain Ghost Dirk, even though in his last pesterlog before BGD’s appearance he’s trying to understand whats happening in the session and clearly wants to help however he can. It doesn’t make any sense to link Dirk’s agency to Brain Ghost Dirk’s here.
Which is important, since it means Brain Ghost Dirk is a product of Jake’s agency, including this line about Jake being his boyfriend. And this is after Dirk breaks up with him, implying Jake still thinks of Dirk that way, or still hopes they can get together.
It helps that “I am [Name], you [Verbed] my [Loved one], Prepare to die” is a pretty clear reference to The Princess Bride, a movie all about the pure power of love overcoming all obstacles so long as you believe in it. I’ve written about its relevance to reading Dirkjake before, though I wanna do better by the link someday:
No shortage of people have pointed out how Jake seems to see himself as or end up in the positions of sexualized and marginalized female protagonists, but I think there’s a cause to be made Jake’s “arc” draws from this specific one–Buttercup–above all others. Buttercup’s romantic dynamic with Westley is simple: She issues requests to him, and he responds “As you Wish.”
This As you Wish is an explicit I love you, and the power of love is put forth as the source of Westley’s power and endless competence and ability throughout the entire story. It doesn’t matter what needs to happen, Westley finds a way to do it. And he does it because he believes in their love.
Buttercup, however, struggles to hold on to her faith that love can overcome all things possible and wavers in her commitment to living for it, ending up nearly trapped in an unwanted marriage. Buttercups’ arc is resolved when she chooses to believe in love even at risk of dying, promising never again to hide what she truly desires–Westley.
Jake perceives Dirk as his Prince Charming, an idea that could also be described as a Knight in Shining Armor.
im 99% sure ive talked about wp making a dirkjake character action game (like devil may cry 3 or bayonetta) before but now im thinking about the absolute romp of carnage and devastation that would be a character action game where you play as rose lalonde and kanaya maryam
a dirkjake one would be a bloodless SNES pixelated style beat em up with cheesy sound effects and gag weapons like the simpsons arcade game meets Bad Dudes meets Turtles in Time for some pistol whipping pizza flinging rough and tumble horse assery in the glass shard spattered weedy parking lot behind Whataburger
a rosemary one would be a darkly beautiful 1080p 60fps aesthetic romp with hand drawn sprites depicting horrifying purple blooded tentacle monsters splorching gore and smearing viscera across the camera lens while the erstwhile protagonists perform a mesmerizing dance of carnage across the demon fields of the dark pit
in both games the protagonists dramatically dip each other and make out upon the successful completion of each level
Flying through Storytelling 