THE DIRKCOURSE THREAD

[RoyalFiddle]

Auto Responder

[ThePungeonMaster]

I feel like I should ask: Why do people hate Dirk? Is it because he's too serious? Is it just because you don't like what he's done? What is it that rubs people the wrong way about him?

[BrobyDDark]

Because his dialogue is dreadful to sit through. The condescension, the arrogance, the droning on and on about jack shit

[calamityCons]

Dirk is not fun to read, and his actual character is extremely similar to Vriska, who is a character I also do not like.

[Generalrabogolfo]

I feel like I should ask: Why do people hate Dirk? Is it because he's too serious? Is it just because you don't like what he's done? What is it that rubs people the wrong way about him?

his dialogue can, quite literally (hee hee), kill you out of boredom. he just spin the same thing over and over again because "irony", making him tedious as fuck to read because of that.

[PilotBlackSmith]

I think Dirk is way too pretentious and narcissistic.
that's my big complaint, really.

[BrobyDDark]

Dirkcourse more like Dickcourse

Dirk more like Dork

[TH4NK YOU B3N]

I kind of wonder if there's some sort of meta-narration thing that makes Dirk act more babyish and stupid than he used to. If he's a Doc Scratch splinter, where's the finesse?

[AsherCrane]

Personally, I don’t like Dirk because he’s manipulative, and freely willing to hijack or ruin other people’s lives for the sake of doing what he believes to be help. He’s a puppet-master, but he’s puppeteering sapient creatures who are perfectly capable of making their own decisions.

Pre-epilogue Dirk, I like just fine because at least he seemed conflicted about it at points. It’s epilogue and post that I dislike.

[Sollux4Smash]

I'd like to suggest that there should be more of a distinction drawn between Dirk and UltDirk, because it seems to me that they are very different characters. Even candy timeline Dirk seems very different from UltDirk, and I think anyone would become an entirely different person if they fused with every version of themselves across all timelines including ones who had been influenced by LE, Cal, Doc Scratch, etc.

[Generalrabogolfo]

I'd like to suggest that there should be more of a distinction drawn between Dirk and UltDirk, because it seems to me that they are very different characters. Even candy timeline Dirk seems very different from UltDirk, and I think anyone would become an entirely different person if they fused with every version of themselves across all timelines including ones who had been influenced by LE, Cal, Doc Scratch, etc.

i think candy dirk was also ultimate dirk. wouldnt make sense if he wasnt.

[Sollux4Smash]

well, i think he became ultimate dirk after... yknow. but since his death was sorta the catalyst of meat dirks ultimate realization, id say candy dirk /became/ a part of ultdirk, but he isn't ultdirk before that moment.

[Generalrabogolfo]

well, i think he became ultimate dirk after... yknow. but since his death was sorta the catalyst of meat dirks ultimate realization, id say candy dirk /became/ a part of ultdirk, but he isn't ultdirk before that moment.

nah i dont think so.
if he wasnt ult dirk, why did he kill himself? it doesnt make sense for him to kill himself just after john made his decision. it was thanks to he being already aware of the narrative that he realized he was on a irrelevant timeline and why he decided to kill himself.

[RoyalFiddle]

He went and necked himself because he was becoming Ult. and that was at odds with Meat Dirk's Ascension, So instead of being Ult. in a "useless" timeline trapped in the bowels of his enemy, he made sure the version of him that could do more would be the one to get it. At least, that's kinda how I figure things are.

At the very least, I feel like having 2 ult. versions is very antithetical to the idea of an Ultimate Self. Do y'all think Dirk got anything from "And It Don't Stop"?

[mspainadventures]

I think it's possible, that candy dirk saw what he would become in meat, and really didn't want that. Or had made a deal with yaldabaoth to defeat a great evil, which he believed to be himself. Or that he had tremendous guilt remembering all the hardships he put his friends through. Or... maybe he just felt like this was what he was supposed to do.

Dirk isn't really good at making good decisions, but, sometimes the reasoning behind them isn't awful,

[Consolo]

Personally, I don’t like Dirk because he’s manipulative, and freely willing to hijack or ruin other people’s lives for the sake of doing what he believes to be help. He’s a puppet-master, but he’s puppeteering sapient creatures who are perfectly capable of making their own decisions.

Pre-epilogue Dirk, I like just fine because at least he seemed conflicted about it at points. It’s epilogue and post that I dislike.

Yeah, the whole point of epilogue/post-epilogue Dirk is that he's a dickhead, and you want to root against him. I'm not saying he's a good person, but who wouldn't control their friends for a relatively short amount of time to save all of them from literally disappearing.

[Shitpost Lizard]

Unpopular opinion: I like Ultimate Dirk way more than Act 6 Dirk.

Am I excusing his shitty actions? No.
Is he an asshole? Yes.
Is he pretentious as fuck? Yes.
Is he arrogant as fuck? Yes.

But I still find him way more entertaining and interesting as a character than he was before. He kind of just relishes in his shittiness, which is something I also liked about Caliborn.

And, unlike Vriska, the story doesn't constantly try to excuse and reward him for it.

[TantamountTurnabout]

Maaaaan ult dirk is a character that I really really want to like, cuz he has so much interesting stuff going for him.
Like, I love a character who's morality has been twisted in a relatable, believable way. Nox from Wakfu (my goal is to go back in time, so any evil I commit in the Present doesn't really Exist), Flowey from Undertale (i'm cut off from my emotions and Also i can erase anything i do at will), etc. Someone who is put into a supernatural situation beyond their control that causes them to lose touch with the world around them, with more complexity than just "they became the joker crazy".
Dirk always had a problem with not listening to or trusting others. He saw himself as the only one capable of handling things, so he tried handling everything. He ended up using and manipulating his friends instead of being open and honest with them about his thoughts or plans because he saw it as just, easier to do it himself. Give this Dirk actual mind control powers? It's easy to see how he'd be seduced to use them. And these are some Noxious powers. The incredible invasion of privacy and agency of the other characters, it Stings, it's horrible and uncomfortable, he Hurts his friends, because he fully sees himself as above them. And he's self aware enough to hate himself for it. He acknowledges he's evil, and even thinks, or hopes, that they'll chase him down and kill him for what he's done. But even then he's too self assured for that to change his mind. He sees himself as beyond saving, so he acts like he's beyond redemption. it's Good.

But then he doesn't really, Do much else? Like they just kinda go play Spore on another planet but they don't get past the character creation screen. And the meta stuff gets so uncomfortably defensive so fast, using UltDirk as this sort of strawman critic insert. "Could it be you are... Afraid of Yiffany" what

[RacoonaStrate]

UltDirk kinda shits on the concept of Dirk like it's all mortality dribble atm. Like fuck dude just make a society based on your little potted plant jelly thing already

And the meta stuff gets so uncomfortably defensive so fast, using UltDirk as this sort of strawman critic insert.

yeah this part was blatant to a point that i agreed with UltDirk. that part had an opposite effect i agreed with UltDirk.

[TantamountTurnabout]

Maaaan i wish Candy dirk didn't off himself. It seems like such a waste of character to be like "they're either a villain or they don't exist no other option."
Like, what if similarly to Rose recovering from her SOULBRAIN burden or whatever in candy, Dirk similarly went "oh hey I was having insane delusions of grandeur maybe I need therapy." You even get a fun parallel of Dirk vs Version of himself that couldn't Mature Properly with Dirk : Auto-Responder : : CandyDirk : MeatDirk. Also some fun Timeline stuff where as John chooses Candy over Meat, Dirk chooses getting help over listening to and pursuing his own isolation.
I think his death is supposed to be like, a clue to how far off the deep end he's gone, if he can't be super powerful or important (dam did it get vriska in here or is it just me) he has nothing to live for, but considering they kinda do gamzee the same, like, "hey i don't know what to do with this character uhhh die"
Wait actually if it was supposed to be a clue to UltDirk, you could achieve the same by having him talk about about how he was feeling, how much he was spiraling into solipsism. Maybe even turn that into some dark forshadowing to ult dirk waiting for us in meat. Or even get in some stuff on what UltDirk Thinks about CandyDirk. Like would he think of him as a weaker version of himself? Look down on him as a pitiful version that refused the call of power? Or would it make UltDirk, even for a second, doubt his choices, given that he has to realize that there was another way? Aaaaagh H2 has/had so much POTENTIAL