#one time i was a beta tester for an escape room and maybe thats kinda what dave strider is but unwillingly and everyday

[homestuckreplay]

saw: seen

WELL I watched Saw (2004) and it was surprisingly really good! Dave's bro is clearly directly emulating Jigsaw, so the movie gives a clear idea of the kind of person that Bro either is, or wants to be.

The movie focuses on the crimes of a serial killer known as Jigsaw, who constructs elaborate 'games' for his victims. All of Jigsaw's games involve the player causing extreme pain and permanent physical damage to either themself or another person. Jigsaw knows that the majority of his victims will die during the games, and has no issue with that, but doesn't want to do the killing himself or have them die before they've already been physically and psychologically tortured. He also wants to directly witness this torture - to be there in the room and not just watching through a screen, while remaining anonymous and unseen. His plans are elaborate, meticulous, and tailored to each of his victims.

In each case, he is trying to punish them for a perceived wrong that they have committed, or just for a personality flaw. Jigsaw has access to all kinds of torture devices, recording technology, and spaces such as sewage plants and warehouses to conduct his plots in. He is a mastermind without morals, someone with all the skills of a wedding planner or a project manager paired with the belief that he gets to be the judge of all humanity.

Applying this to Dave's bro definitely explains the huge weapons collection. Bro might not have access to actual medieval torture devices for personal use, or might not want to go quite as far as Jigsaw, and these blades, bombs, and explosives are the closest thing. The common areas of the apartment function both as Bro's storage/planning space, and as a site to set up traps for Dave - Lil Cal possibly being the means of guiding Dave to the next clue, or next source of torment. Leaving a disturbing image somewhere a victim will find it, drawing a symbol or message on the walls, and filling the room with cameras while also being physically, stealthily present, are all things Bro has copied directly from Jigsaw.

The puppet theming is Bro's own for the most part - Jigsaw does use animatronics and masks, but not piles of plush, at least not in this first movie. However, puppets carry the connotation of the puppetmaster, which Jigsaw definitely is. Dave is the victim of all Bro's saw traps because he's present and he's easy to manipulate. Bro could be specifically targeting Dave specifically for motivations similar to Jigsaw - wanting to fix or correct Dave in some way, just as he tries to mold Dave into sharing his interests and creating similar ironic content - or he could be using Dave as a test subject, before putting his 'games' into practice on other victims out in the world. I don't know which of these options is scarier.

It does add a new layer to Dave being reluctant to play Sburb, as well. He's already crossed that line of when a game stops being a game and becomes a danger to reality.