#for real though the pseudo-incestual tension btwn the striders is far too frequent and noteworthy to ignore wrt their characters

[angel---eater]

alright. playlist for dave and dirk letsgo. some prefacing stuff cause i have a lotta Thoughts abt their relationship and how absolutely unhealthy it is but also how much they wanna be around e/o, and how thats a constant inherent tragidy between them

first up undertale + game over reference for the cover photo because vibes

there are a couple songs in here that are technically what a lotta ppl would consider love songs, like for romantic couples, but im taking them and spinning them on their heads for the context of how i see dave and dirk

the way i see the striders is that they're both struggling with oppositional attachment problems. dave with his emotional estrangement from bro, and dirk with his idolization and wish fulfillment of how he sees a!bro. dirk loves dave. this is an inarguable, textual fact. dave isnt sure how to feel about dirk, not in totality. these problems combined, outside of the meat+candy timelines, i think would play out as the two of them either remaining painfully foreign to each other or - important word useage incoming - enmeshed

the lalondes struggle with similar estrangement/idolization problems, but theres something about the striders and their specific emotional issues that makes their attachment shit go TURBO

they dont know how to approach e/o in a balanced way. its all or nothing for them both. usually 'all' for dirk, and 'nothing' for dave, which feeds into dirk's 'all' and in turn pushes dave further into 'nothing' even when he doesnt actually want that. its a horrible cycle of wanting to actually know each other but not knowing how to think of the other without seeing someone else. they could be completely hands off and not talk to each other at all for months or literally be sharing pockets and talking about rooming together, and those phases transition into e/o quick. and then those plans fall through and it starts all over again. its weird, it aint right, its painful for them both, they just want to be okay around each other, but they dont know how. theyre far too close to cherubic bullshit for me to pass that one up