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mxmorel · 4 months

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on messy redemption arcs (specifically todd brotzman's) and why i think they're a good thing

sharing the following thing i wrote in the dghda server re: todd's character growth in s2 upon the request of another server member!

for context, this is regarding a conversation that sprung up in the dghda server about some people viewing Todd as manipulative/uncaring towards Dirk, vs other people who saw his arc in s2 through a different lens. to be clear, despite various disagreements, the conversation was positive and everyone was respectful which was really nice, considering how bad discourse can get sometimes. but anyway i came in late to the conversation and this was my contribution - clearly, i fall in camp 2:

[About Todd's ups and downs in S2:] growth isn't linear and people can take steps forward and then fall back, but what matters ultimately to me is that they keep trying to take those steps forward even when they make mistakes and I think Todd does do that.

He's spent so much of his life in a prison of his own making, lying to everyone and digging a hole so deep he didn't think he could ever get out of it. And I think he did always care about Amanda at the very least but he did this HUGE fuckup and covering that up led to this avalanche of horrible decisions and now he has to own up to his shit and learn how to care about people again without hiding from his actions.

He definitely gets tunnel vision about Amanda, and I think that makes sense. He’s so desperate to “fix” things and a big part of his story in season 2 is learning that, like Amanda said, some things you can’t just FIX. Sometimes you just have to pick up the pieces you have left and do your best to make something good with them.

Additionally [in regards to previous comments made about Todd ignoring/not caring about the trauma Dirk suffered in his second bout in Blackwing], he doesn’t know the extent of what happened in Blacking, not yet. And he’s taken several steps back by centering all his focus on finding Dirk - Dirk who has always seemed so optimistic and enthusiastic - to “fix” things (because he hasn’t learned his lesson about fixing things yet). And he doesn’t know how to reconcile the Dirk he knew before with the things that this new stint in Blackwing has changed about Dirk.

I don’t think Todd is malicious or not caring about Dirk - I think he has done so much self isolation over the years that he is unused to knowing how to identify what’s going on with other people/doesn’t know how to handle things. He does try to uplift Dirk, even if he doesn’t always do it in the right way, but that doesn’t make him cruel or manipulative. It makes him a human person who is also struggling to learn how to exist in community with others.

I think there’s also something to be said for the black and white ways we can view fictional characters who react to situations in ways that create defensiveness in us based on our own experiences/our own traumas. I think processing that through fiction is such a powerful tool but it can also put blinders on us and view some characters as wholly good “perfect cinnamon rolls” and other characters as “horrible manipulators”, when really, both types of characters have strengths and flaws, and neither exists purely on one end of the spectrum or the other.

tl;dr redemption arcs can and should be messy sometimes because people are messy. none of these characters are inherently good or inherently bad and i think that's what makes them all such compelling characters.

#dghda meta #??#is this meta? i don't know i've never written meta before #i'm not one of the smart meta writing fandom members lmao i'm just a guy with a lot of feelings #i'm hobbs if he wasn't a cop #dghda #todd brotzman #dirk gently #this is missing some context of specific posts from other server members that i was referring to / addressing but i made some edits for tha

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generalized-incompetence · 6 months

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Good scifi asks "who counts as human and what rights do we afford them," and good fantasy asks "how and why do we go on," and I feel like DGHDA hits so hard because it's straddling the line both aesthetically and thematically, S1 leaning towards scifi (who are these escaped government experiments and can they exist as normal humans) and S2 towards fantasy (why should these escaped government experiments persist in the face of all this death).

#dghda #dghda meta #@vika for you <3

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frenchfriedgiraffe · 2 months

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dghda season 2 and childhood

this is adding on to this post i made a while ago. basically, i fully believe that the writers of this show set up the perfect opportunity to have the theme of s2 be about childhood, specifically exploring the effects of trauma (and escapism/maladaptive daydreaming). its already something that is featured or referenced to, however i think that there was a lot of potential for the show if they fully embraced the theme.

the biggest and most prominent example of the theme of childhood being present is in the character of francis (The Boy), who experiences severe childhood trauma and as a result creates a fantasy world that he can escape to. this world is full of stereotypes of a conventional children’s fantasy, with knights, a magic train, and even a crazy evil wizard guy. yet despite this, the world he created also contains elements from real life, specifically things that he found traumatic. francis witnesses his father get killed with a pair of scissors, and the main weapon used by the characters in wendimoor are a pair of giant scissors. also, in the house within the house, theres a copy of his kitchen, featuring the scissors and smashed flowerpot.

this is probably the most obvious display of the lasting effects of childhood trauma in a character, although there are a LOT more, though they are quite subtle.

dirk may be the second most obvious example of the presence of this theme. his very first scene in season 2 is set in blackwing, the organisation that took him and experimented on him as a child. blackwing is hinted to have abused him as a child, although we only see how they treat him as an adult. (there is a deleted scene of him when he was a child talking to the previous head of blackwing, meaning that there was a possibility we could have seen what it was like for him as a child too.)

however it is clear that he suffered trauma from his time at BW as a child, as many of his mannerisms throughout both season 1 and 2 mirror those of someone with c!ptsd. and having that trauma resurface in s2 also causes him to be more distant and get upset more frequently. (theres more but this is long enough already)

despite escaping blackwing early on in the season, dirk is obviously extremely shaken from his brief time back in there, and its pretty safe to say that the experience brought up a lot of bad memories. he is much more subdued throughout s2, and his previous optimism is rarely present, with his attitude towards the case being very different from s1.

like francis, there are a few tiny hints to escapism as a result of dirks trauma from blackwing (although im probably grasping at straws here). while in blackwing, he frequently dreams about being rescued by todd and farah. while being chased near the end of the season, dirk is lethargic and rather unresponsive, which could be some sort of dissociative state that he entered in order to escape from the reality of his situation.

while these are the most prominent examples where characters are shown to be effected by their childhood experiences, most of the other characters can be interpreted this way too.

farah is another good example, where she mentions the passing of her dad, and talks about how he wasnt a great father figure and caused her to often feel like a failure. she actually gets a resolution to this, with hobbs seeming to step in as her new father figure (yay!)

this was also something that seemed to be half set up for other characters. for example, todd and amanda having to learn to accept the changes in their relationship and amanda having to recontextualize her past. tinas frequent references to her struggles with addiction as well. farson and his whole family… thing. oh, and also like EVERY other blackwing subject. (more examples but again, this is a fucking long post)

essentially, the characters in this season struggle a lot, and a lot of this is because of things that happened (or possibly happened) because of their childhood experiences.

which leads me onto my next point (oh god, theres more!?) about the missed opportunity with this set up. many people agree that a lot of season 2 felt rather… aimless? while things were loosely connected, they definitely felt a lot less connected than in season 1. events happened and because there were plots happening in different DIMENSIONS, there was often very little overlap. having an underlying theme like this would have made each plot connect much more seamlessly, and it would have been a nice opportunity to further develop and explore some characters.

for example, throughout his journey in season 2, dirk could be seen recognising the parallels between the case and his own internal conflict. as he sees the destruction caused by francis’ powers, he could mirror the events with his own experiences and perhaps realise the effects of what pushing down trauma does. i think it would have been nice to see a conversation between dirk and francis about blackwing, ending with francis telling dirk he needs to learn to face the shit he went through and stop trying to ignore his trauma. this would have been a good way to connect their characters more as well.

it would have been a good opportunity to connect ALL the characters, especially if the show embraced the idea of escapism and pushed it further through wendimoor. as they got closer to solving the case, we could have seen them recognising their own flaws and looking back at their pasts.

and they wouldn’t have really had to make any super drastic changes, because theres already so much material for this theme to be introduced!!

tl;dr: s2 set up a lot of cool themes and the season would have been a lot more well-rounded if they embraced them more.

dont even get me started on the concept of good and bad…

#fucking hell thats a long post #thanks for reading if you made it to the end… if you didnt then tbh same #dghda #dirk gently #dghda meta #todd brotzman #idk what to tag this tbh #um #the consequences of experimenting on children??? idk #im so sorry if this is indecipherable im so bad at explaining my thoughts

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neeturnal · 3 months

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this is gonna be very shitposty but every once in a while i just gush over the creativity and amazing writing that is farah's character, specifically in context of her being a black woman. like her character archetype only makes sense if she's played by Jade Eshete.

Her whole life she's been brought up by a strong black military family, so she's always been expected by not just her family, but by American society as well to be the "strong, independent, badass" character. and she expects this of herself too, most of her panic attacks/breakdowns are based on her feeling like she's not being strong enough (im specifically thinking of s1, that scene with amanda). but thats the thing, Farah is incredibly strong, shes incredibly brave, and she literally is called a badass by almost every major character because she really is what holds the entire cast together.

but despite this, her character still rebels from that archetype so well, because shes not strong and brave all the time, there are many moments in the show where we see such a vulnerable side of her. and these deviations arent just a cold emotionless moments, they're messy! she's a hot mess! but thats a good thing!

The overall message of the show is one that I am already in love with, but another message the show represents in specifics to farah is that there are sooooo many ways to be strong. you're never going to prove yourself to others if they only have one way of defining their expectations of you. its because of her vulnerabilities that she is one of the strongest female protagonists ive ever seen.

#hello i have no idea what to tag this as #dghda #meta?#meta #dghda meta #idfk #farah black #jade eshete #dirk gently's holistic detective agency

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clockworkcheetah · 4 months

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the colours on the blackwing jumpsuits are absolutely supposed to indicate a danger level to the projects

like dirk has orange. only friedkin needed to go and he didnt even say anything. clearly orange is deemed a low threat (at least in terms that the project themselves doesnt have powers that can hurt you, which dirk doesnt, he can just end up in locations tht cause violence)

the rowdy three have red and as riggins says Normally, confronting these subjects would be a 40-man operation. I'd want 10 men for every one of them. so red means dangerous but can be managed

bart and mona both have light blue. weapons and armies cant work on them. theyre two powerful and regular people arent gonna touch them. however what does seem to work? talking *cough*manipulating*cough* building a meaningful relationship. both priest and ken get this and the way they interact with bart. and ken (i also think because he survived bart he thinks can survive mona- which yeah he did but still) interacts with mona in a careful way using certain words to get on her good side (using dirk specifically)

i dont know if the blacks/whites of the jumpsuit means anything though

#dghda meta #dghda #im p sure ive seen someone else discuss the colours but idk who im sorry #dirk gently's holistic detective agency #project blackwing

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goatyoat · 1 year

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so what are your thoughts on trans todd and tina

i don't know why i say things and expect you guys to not immediately bite. when will i learn?

My thoughts on these two being trans are this:

Todd being trans is just a headcannon i've had for ages bc little fledgling trans me watched this show and projected on to Todd (nevermind that im a dirk kinnie now, things change). Even now though, I just like the idea of it.

But Tina? This is a newer concoction of mine. I came up with the idea bc I was ruminating on trans headcannons for this show and I just kind of *wanted* one of the ladies to be trans at first bc we love trans women in this household. At first I just decided it would be Tina because. not for any meaningful reason.

BUT THEN, dear reader, then i considered the implications

This is a lot of hype for me to basically say; I like trans Tina because it adds a layer of depth to her and Todd's relationship. Like, it goes from "woah dude you were a really cool musician who's music rocked and you were basically a god" to "all that PLUS you a trans figure in my life who maybe also helped me feel confident enough to come out and transition even in this rural montana town"

So yeah my thoughts on Trans Tina and Todd are "trans solidarity" <3

#sorry if i initially came off like i was annoyed at your ask #im not you just sent this so quickly and i was not prepared for anyone to actually bite #(even though vika and pheobe do on the regular)#dghda #dghda meta #?#todd brotzman #tina tevetino #ps this is the post where i found out you can go back and edit tags now wtf

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h3rmitsunited · 2 years

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Okay, because I couldn't help myself, I had to go for the Season Two outfits also.

Starting, of course, with the Blackwing Jumpsuit. The angst-filled gray blob of imprisonment, dehumanization, and, say it with me folks, **Trauma**! Yay! There's no trace of Dirk Gently in this outfit. He's stuck in the white walls in clothes he wouldn't willingly wear, and not only that, but the last time that we saw our detective, he was wearing his signature yellow jacket and Mexican Funeral t-shirt from his friends. We don't see Blackwing take these away, but obviously they did, and the implication of them stripping Dirk of this identity that he's created for himself as Dirk Gently, holistic detective (which he was so proud to tell Riggins in episode 3 that he was solving real cases, finding clues, that he had friends), and stripped him of his friends, of the real connections that he had made out of no small effort, I mean the implication is just something that makes me really want to give Friedkin a nice punch in the face.

Dirk has this stripped away, is stuffed into this jumpsuit that says you aren't deserving of a real name, you're not a person, you're an experiment, you're a mistake, you never get anything right, so just do what you're supposed to do. He spends two months there with nobody, silent guards walking him from room to room, hearing the recorded voice tell him he's doing a bad job, and changing from one jumpsuit to another day after day.

I feel burnt out just watching it.

And so he escapes. First outfit change we see is the jumpsuit top unzipped and tied at the waist, a simple gray t-shirt underneath. He's hesitant to feel like he's out, so he's still wearing the jumpsuit (and practically, yes, he hasn't had the opportunity to change his clothes), but he's letting himself enjoy his friends, feeling a bit vulnerable, worried about them being wanted by the FBI, opening up to Hobbs about what he's been through. He's not back into Dirk Gently mode, yet though.

Not until Hobbs and Tina come back and say hey, we're gonna do a holistic, and present him with this bright reflective jacket to put over his white t-shirt and jumpsuit pants. We see Dirk eager to jump into the holistic detective persona, investigating, finding the air gun, doing his holistic... stuff. But you can tell that he's still not quite... there yet. He's still in that jumpsuit, he's finding out Todd got pararibulitis, there's a body in a tree, and things aren't quite right, but it's... fine.

We see that he's taken the jacket off to sleep, resting it under his head. Like... like it's a dream??? Out of reach because he knows it's not as easy to just throw that persona back on, to jump right back into that same person that he was before, the bright jackets and wild theories. In the day time, it was easier, but at night, struggling to sleep while Todd and Farah rest in their beds, he can't escape his own thoughts, and there's no one to put the performance on for. He's still in that jumpsuit, wrapped in the traumatic experience of Blackwing, unable to keep that bright jacket on, just letting it sit under his head.

And it feels poingnant that the first thing that Dirk asks when Tina arrives that morning, is for new clothes. He needs to get out of what he's wearing. The reflective jacket didn't work, he's done wallowing the angsty memories, so he's just going to throw that away, try something completely different and just ignore all those scary thoughts that happened because of Blackwing and just go and go and go. Detective Time!

One new spiffy outfit later, he looks himself in the mirror saying "best case ever", and if that doesn't tell you that the look is an important part of the way that Dirk works, I don't know what will. He's like okay... I can do this. I look the part, I just need to walk it again. Easy. Yes. Easy peasy.

Except... oh shit it's not. He stumbles upon Bob Boreton who proceeds to attack him, Hobbs brushes off his warnings, and they go back to the station. And good god, the scene that Todd checks on him... he has taken off the jacket!

Again, I repeat, the jacket is off! Except instead of this vulnerable state making Dirk open up, he bristles, dodging Todd's questions and wandering off. He's not in the same place that he was before, he willinging took off that layer of armor of his jacket, and he's scared and hurting, but like a cornered and scared dog, it just makes him feel trapped.

That is until later, after Panto gets brought to the station, the man with pink hair, convoluted bullshit just dropping like big crazy raindrops from the sky around Dirk. He's still jacketless, but he's got himself shielded by the file cabinet when Todd comes to talk to him. There's still that defensiveness, but Dirk finds himself able to open up a bit, and slowly during the conversation, he comes out a little from behind the file cabinet.

He's got the jacket back on during the house within a house sequence and for the subsequent scenes in the police station and Francis' room. This is a very chaotic series of events, and Dirk has a lot of Feelings throughout everything that happens. The initial, yes, I'm a detective I can't do this, to oh shit, I fucked up and I'm going to die, to panic that Todd is going to try to come in for him, then continued investigating and panic and escape and relief and then more panic when Todd has an attack and things happen so quickly and they go back to the station and (I analyzed this whole scene at the station in another meta post and gosh I love this scene) but this whole time but Dirk's clothes are the same. I'd say this scene is him wanting to cling to that holistic detective persona.

And agh, once again, this works so well, because he goes from that outfit to running into some rando guy in the bathroom of the diner and trading for his clothes, that red jacket outfit. Because, well that last outfit obviously didn't work... it got him trapped in a hell dimension and Todd had an attack and murder weapons and just... it was a bad outfit, so he changes and he's like, yes okay, I'm going to be doing normal detective stuff, not stupid, flighty bullshit, this is going to work this time.

Spoiler, it doesn't.

Arnold Cardenas finds him and then proceeds to have a whole ass heart attack and Dirk is like... I'm starting to think I'm bad at this. I hate everything.

So why not go party, yeah whatever. Some big music festival? Tons of people? Lots of opportunities for stuff to go wrong? Well I'm a big disaster anyways, might as well embrace it.

So he keeps his little outfit on to head to the festival, a pair of glowsticks (oh my god the glowsticks), and at one point a big balloon hat, and is just like being a holistic detective is already so goddamn weird this might as well happen.

And we see him in this outfit... until... yeah, that's right, the infamous drug night, unseen except for our fanfics.

And he ends up in this big fluffy pink coat, a cowboy hat, a black tank top and his little shorts, and oh boy, what a look that is. And it's like five different looks in one. Because Dirk doesn't know who he is. The spell loosened them up, as Todd called it a truth spell, and the truth that Dirk reveals is that he is wearing so many different clothes that he doesn't know what fits. It's pink. It's fur. It's a hat, or showing skin, or not showing skin, glitter or black or white or jacket or not. He's so turned around and shaken up and it's all just happening and happening and happening and it's so much.

He goes out to the main room and catches up with the others, hearing that super fun call from Suzie about how she's going to like drink their blood and murderize them, and he's like immediate spiral. But there isn't time to wait. They're like we have to get back to work and Dirk is freaking out and there's no time to deal with that. Time to go, go, go.

And I think it's also relevant that his next freakout happens when they're getting ready to go, he's in just his white button down and tie and staring down needing to put the jacket back on and get going when he's like...

...pause... I solved the case...

He doesn't want to put that jacket back on. If he can just finish it right now, before anything else happens, then that can be it. Nobody else has to get hurt, they can just walk away. But he knows it isn't that simple, so the attempt to talk himself into this being the end turns into panic insane rambling, and the others are just like... yeah no, we need to go.

So Dirk gets his jacket back on, but he's not in it. It's like the jacket is wearing a ghost of Dirk, going through the motions, but it's too heavy, he can't bear the responsibilities, he doesn't want to carry this anymore. He can't do it.

And it all falls apart. Suzie, the hospital, Arnold.

Priest.

They make it to Wendimoor and the first thing Dirk does is throw his jacket off and pull off his tie. Nope. I'm done. I quit. I'm not that guy. I'm nobody and don't try to tell me I'm something. This is it.

He lets Beast do his hair and wrap him in vines because this is who he is when he doesn't have something. Sure, you can turn me into your uniquely elegant lumberjack husband. Better than being a fuck-up and getting everyone killed.

But then... pulling off the vines, and looking at the murals, he figures it out and runs.

Still in his clothes, he's not quite back yet, he's still scared and unsure, but he's got something he's running for, and once he gets into that town, he pulls on a jacket and jumps back into his role. I'm getting my friends back, I'm in this. I'm here for them and I'm going to figure this out.

He keeps that Wendimoor jacket on until he's back in Blackwing and Mona blows up the room they run into and he gets a cut on his arm. And he's back with a friend, not safe, and very vulnerable, but he's still himself, he's not in that jumpsuit, he's got a friend, and she protects him as best as she can while they try to get Francis out, jumping in front of him when Ken is threatening him.

But he ultimately makes it back to Wendimoor, saves the day, wearing that yellow jacket. That yellow jacket that feels so much like himself and Mona giving him that, knowing that is what he needs to wear at that moment, I'm here, Dirk, I've got you covered, you are who you are and you don't have to keep trying to be someone you're not. We love you so much. And we see after this scene that Dirk does look more settled, despite the breakdowns he had before, he seems okay, satified with what Francis had told him about what he is and his purpose. He stands by Todd's side wearing his yellow jacket with pride, with a smile, like this is who he is and he can be okay with that.

And then the final scene, that black jacket. The stripes of color on the sleeve the same as all his other jackets he had worn before. His suit of armor. And he looks happy.

And it's so good.

This was very long, so I didn't go deeply into every single things as much as I could have, but season two is long and so much stuff happens! And Dirk is really going through it so... makes sense that his outfits go through it too.

Anyways, yay meta posts.

lol bye

#dghda #dghda meta #dirk gently’s holistic detective agency #dirk gently #dghda outfits

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corvidiss · 1 year

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Okay so I was talking on discord with fellow dghda peeps and apparently this is worthy of wider circulation so:

Thinking about the differences between (1) “What would this character be as an animal?”, (2) “What would this character's dæmon be?” and (3) “What is this character's animal motif?”

(1) is about matching the character’s personality (and sometimes physical appearance) to the attributes of a species of animal. It's looking at that species' behaviour, physiology and adaptations and going “This matches this person's character very closely.” This may also involve vibes though, the more so the more silly you're being about it.

Example: Farah Black would be a cheetah, because they're very good at the specific thing they do, are very deadly with it, and are very prone to anxiety and often need support animals in captivity to reduce stress.

(2) is pretty close to (1) and often will overlap or be the same. But in this case, it can also be about whether the animal species complements the character's lifestyle and appearance and such, and is often slightly further along the spectrum of vibes.

Example: Dirk Gently's dæmon would be a stoat, because stoats have a lot of energy and a lot of curiosity, and they're able to take down problems far far bigger than themselves somehow. And also Dirk with a stoat on his shoulder Vibes.

(3), however, is all about associations. This may partially disregard the actual attributes of the selected species, because it is about societal associations with a certain species rather than its actual biology. It's things like “fox is treacherous and sly” and “golden eagle is noble and bold.” Animal motifs can certainly delve into more realistic and accurate info of the species chosen, but they can be comfortably much less subvertive than (1) and (2).

Example: Dirk Gently's animal motif is a canary, because the canary is bright yellow, associated with hope, very vocal, and when it stops singing you know something terrible is coming, or has already happened.

#thanks to the discord members for spurring this and also for the genius cheetah link to farah #dghda #dghda meta #writing stuff #animal motif #also please do disagree over my examples I would love to see your takes on this #there are so many possibilities

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urlocallesbiab · 1 year

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i love s1 because it's a season where everything is everyone's fault, a gorgeous tangle of blame and shame

the timeloop is patrick's fault because he invented time travel and became obsessed; it's dirk's fault because he wrote patrick a note, intriguing him about the future and letting him know who to seek, and sent the machine back, enabling further time-travel and complications.

farah getting kidnapped is todd's fault, because he could let her in and save her, but chickened out; it's lydia's fault, because she decided to meet an enemy alone and led farah into a trap.

lydia getting kidnapped is lydia's fault, because she acted recklessly; it's farah's fault because she couldnt keep her eyes on her; it's patrick's fault because he kept too many secrets from his daughter.

patrick dying is patrick's fault, because he scared the beast; it's dirk and todd's fault because they brought the beast there; it's farah's fault because she was his bodyguard and failed to prevent it.

but also, no one is truly at fault, because it's a timeloop. it's self-sustaining, self-causing, a self-fulfilling prophecy. it was always meant to go like this, from the very first second which is the very last second. you don't win; this is how it ended. ultimately, it's nobody's fault, but everybody's regret.

#dghda #dirk gently's holistic detective agency (tv 2016)#dghda meta #dirk gently #patrick spring #farah black #todd brotzman #lydia spring #vikarambles #vika's personal dghda tag

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lavinialost · 11 months

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thinking about how rapunzel the corgi functions as a foreshadowing device in s2.

rapunzel was rimmer's dog in s1, and for all intents and purposes, rimmer was the main antagonist of s1 (even though he's kind of garbage at it).

and then in s2 we see her attached to ken. they're being held in the taxi together, friedkin's convinced she's part of ken's supposed holisticism, she gets to go with ken when he's reassigned to his own room after his "promotion", etc.

and then who's set up to be the main antagonist by the end of s2? ken. who still has rapunzel with him somewhere in blackwing.

#dghda meta #dghda #every day I wake up and put my english degree to use in the stupidest ways imaginable

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summery-captain · 1 year

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S1E2 - "Lost and Found"

More AuADHD traits Dirk displays! First episode analysis here

Once I'm finished I'll do a masterpost and link it in my fixed post

I'd like to mention that @goatygoat said Dirk is also alexyrhitimic (has a hard time/can't recognize their feelings and emotions) and I absolutely agree!! It is also exemplified, as they mentioned, by Dirk going "I might it might bother me more later, when I'm less... Something" in S1E1. I also agree with @urlocallesbiab saying dirk is a compulsive liar (he repeatedly lies about his past and then corrects himself)

- When Todd and Dirk are hiding behind a bush watching Rimmer's house, Dirk goes on a mini rant: "It's interesting actually because hammerhead sharks aren't usually aggressive towards humans!" - he remembers specific facts and mentions them in casual conversation as if rehearsed, and also might indicate a special interest in sharks or animal related facts

- To get Todd to follow him into the house, he 1) runs into the house while the garage door is going down and 2) proceeds to throw Todd's lotto ticket into it - he acts before thinking, so to speak, a lot of times being very inconsequential

- He mirrors/mimics Todd's actions when they get inside the house - it's very common for autistic people to mirror their peers when in a situation they don't have a lot of control in or have never been in before. In this scene he imitates Todd's stance, then goes on all fours like him, and then copies how Todd looks into the corridor to try and see Rimmer

- When he recognizes Lydia, he starts jumping up and down and "screams" without making noise while pointing at her - of course it's understandable that given the situation anyone would go "!!!!" but I find important to note how Dirk always stims, even in small ways. In this specific case, he stims through the repetitive movement of going up and down and also seems very taken aback/confused when Todd interrupts that to push him into the bathroom as to escape Rimmer noticing them

- After running off from the house, Dirk starts blabbing off, completely nervous - it's very common for ADHDers/Kinetic people to just go on a rant a mile a minute when nervous, be it to stim, to process what is happening, or just a momentary loss of control over speech (going too fast).

- In the bathroom when Todd is trying to reach for the window's handle and then throws himself back into the bathtub to hide from Rimmer, Dirk startles BADLY and goes "Oh it's just you. I don't know why I got scared you were already here" - in this scene (and in many others) Dirk dissociates without realizing, distancing himself from the situation at hand. This is a common defense mechanism autistic people, and also ADHDers, develop to handle our day to day lives. Dissociation is also a symptom of trauma, which unfortunately is bound to happen when you live in a world that does not accommodate you.

- "I gave him my cards" "You gave him your card?!" *"No, I gave him my CARDS. I do a lot of things, and then later I'm like uhh" - this is peak AuADHD honestly (more so adhd), in general we do things without fully thinking it through, ESPECIALLY during stressful situations

- *Later on when Todd and Dirk are driving to the bridge and stop before getting out of the car, the following dialogue happens: "What if he pulls out a gun?" "Aha!! That's why I brought... *Pulls out a switchblade* This!!" "What is that supposed to mean?" "You know what they say, about bringing a knife to a gunfight!" "That it's... Bad?" "Oh bloody hell is that what that means?" - big autism moment- more specifically it's very hard for us to intuitively figure out what figures of speech mean.

- "You're really brave, sort of like crazy brave. Or maybe just stupid, but, wow! And also surprisingly incapable, how have you survived this long?" - I wasn't gonna add this one because it's ableist as hell but alas, it's important to mention because it's not that far off from my lived experience and from what I've gathered, of some other disabled people I'm friends with or know. We're incredibly good at some things and at others, eh. So it makes sense for Dirk to be seen like this when in alignment to neurodivergency.

This will take a bit longer because I just got a new jobs and the change in routine has been hell but it'll be finished eventually!

Tagging the people who asked me to/expressed interest:

@clockworkcheetah @generalized-incompetence @silverhardt @weiwuxiankinnie @amber-angel

#dirk gently #adhd dirk gently #autistic dirk gently #dghda #dghda headcanons #dghda meta #autistic adhd dirk gently #audhd #actually autistic #kinectic #neurodivergency #autistic traits #adhd traits #auadhd traits

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