#ok here’s something I’ve been thinking about rose and dave. #all four of the stralondes are pretty sure that they’re going to die fighting to protect their friends #or get old and lonely and drink themselves to death in regret #and they kind of would prefer option a #but dirk and roxy seem to know a lot better than dave and rose that their friends would do the same #i mean obviously both john and jade would throw themselves on a grenade if necessary – but dirk and roxy know they’re on the frontlines by … necessity not choice #they know more they’ve seen more they’re better prepared. #and they’re better motivated they hate the condesce more #and they know if jake and jane were the ones parentless in the future they’d be the ones going down swinging #but rose and dave think they’re cannon fodder #the shitty xerox of their heroic mom/bro #the people who can’t control themselves or be trusted to find the right way to live past the end of the game #all four of them are wrong – no one needs a strider-lalonde to die least of all the terrifyingly powerful egbert-harleys #but when dirk and roxy go out it’s an act of love and they both know it would be #dave and rose are too terrified to ever admit that’s what they’re doing
Someone on my dash a little while ago was talking about how they didn’t understand why everyone fixated on the Strider-Lalondes as tragic babies and less on the Egbert-Harleys as tragic? And I couldn’t figure out how to articulate the point that the Egbert-Harleys are just inherently less tragic, no matter what happens to them.
Because yes. John’s dad died and Jade’s grandpa died and she was raised by a god-dog and they both died (more than once). But
But
But Rose and Dave truly believe they’re expendable. They’re red shirts. They’re backup for Jade and John, their bodyguards and tech team and portable army. They believe they’re near worthless, not meant to be heroes. That they’re in the game and in this position of power by some sort of cosmic accident. Their Mom and Bro were born to be heroes, not them.
At least in my mind, Rose and Dave lack a certain amount of belief in their own self-worth. This is something that Jade and John don’t do. Jade might get upset, and John might have self-esteem issues sometimes (going by his wall scribbles), but they believe in themselves, and in their friends. They have hope for the future, I think, even when there seems to be no possible way out.
Rose and Dave know they are casualties of war waiting to happen.
this is a commission for @tetrarch-tritoh, who gave me another reason to draw dave and rose!! its been a good month for commissions for me, i love peoples OCs but not in the way i love the betas 🙂
daverosed 