#me making homestuck meta posts in 2023? i know im surprised too

[atalana]

sometimes my brain just spontaneously reminds me of this dirk/roxy conversation, specifically "antediluvian", and just how much dirk info you get in this tiny segment

like

he's gay

he's not comfortable with the idea of being gay

but also he still has enough identity driven heart player nonsense in his brain that he needs it to be acknowledged, so he pushes roxy to say it out loud even though it makes him uncomfortable

when he's uncomfortable he gets even more aloof, and ridiculously wordy, throwing out things like antediluvian

antediluvian

which when you first read this conversation, if you happen to have an insane strider level vocab, or if you look it up, means the second definition here - in 2011 it wasn't too unusual for someone to claim gay was an outdated term, and he doesn't have to label it if he doesn't want to. okay, so he likes guys, whatever, let's move on and ignore that, i'm clearly a modern teenager who's moved past such ridiculous notions of sexuality needing "labels". which is an accurate assessment of dirk's character (at least how he sees himself)

but then you read it again, after the reveal of exactly what time period dirk and roxy are living in

and you realise no, he's being insanely literal right now

gay is an antediluvian term, according to the first definition. because the entire human race died in a biblical level flood, leaving only dirk and roxy. one of whom isn't gay, and one of whom doesn't like the word. the last time anyone used the word gay... was before the flood

and of course, no one but hal is there to get all the little language tricks dirk is throwing in there to cover for the fact that this is a thing he doesn't like about himself

but goddamn this little smartass