Loading reply snippet...I love this a lot.

Of note - Candy Dirk specifically killed himself via hanging, AKA putting a noose around his head. So his death being represented as a ball and chain around Davebot's neck feels particularly poignant, too. Maybe Meat Dave also was considering suicide, but was averse to it due to how everyone reacted badly to Dirk's death and he doesn't wanna put everyone through that again, making Candy Dirk's death also literally shackle him and prevent him from moving? (and in particular, the neck ball puts a steel collar on him so he can't hang himself, literally preventing him from doing the same thing as Candy Dirk0

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This also works great with my Candy Family reading - I feel weird slotting Meat Dirk as one of the balls due to it not being something Meat Dirk personally experienced or would feel regret over sans large ult!self stuff, and Bro feels a tad too removed from his current situation to make me wanna slot it that well. But Candy Dirk's death was a lot more recent, and specifically happens in Candy. This way:

1) Candy Jade, the wife he didn't love

2) Yiffy, the child forced to be in his name

3) Dirk, his father who abandoned him (via suicide) then burdened him (to kill him)

4) Teen Jade, an undead reminder of his childhood trauma (Sburb)

All 4 of them relate to events that directly happen within the Candy timeline or is in the room with him (teen jade) , so no need for "he knows everything" ultself speculation. It maps rather cleanly into his storyline as an individual without muddling itself on "he knows all daves so he'd care about davesprite's angst"; if we could count splinters, then we'd have to address the Davepeta euphoria and maturity which he just seems to lack. So I wanna lean towards ultselfhood not giving him much, either not the full knowledge or (most likely) him just not caring about what those splinters went through. So focusing his angst on his personal problems, on the trauma and relationships that he personally experienced before going ult, makes sense.

RE Yiffy - I dont think he knew about her before his death, however I think after his ascension to ulthood - or at least, talking with Allie who for sure knows - he'd learn about it. And I think he'd be REALLY bummed out and like, mentally angst, knowing that his wife literally cheated on him with his sister and had a secret child for years. Imagine dying and then learning that the wife you were pretending to love because you didnt want to hurt her feelings had a secret child with your sister. Yikes.