(( No no, you’re doing a good job at it. This is actually the first ask I’ve gotten for Bro in regards to the upd8 and I’m very relieved it was a positive and reassuring message rather than a shitstorm of hate.

I’m guessing the people who follow this blog aren’t really the vocal “bro is terrible” crowd (or if they are, they’re decent people who know better than to harass an ask blog about it) and are composed more of people like myself: i.e. people who acknowledged Bro wasn’t a good parent but wanted to believe he was still a good person who tried his best in his own messed up way.

But this last upd8 suggests this was not the case. ‘Cause if he did care, he was really really really bad at showing it. And even if there was some slim chance he had good intentions, it wouldn’t excuse all the terrible things he did. 

So yes, I guess that would kind of make this blog an AU. But even before this upd8, there was a fair amount of fanon going on already. I always knew Bro was not a great guardian and was probably bad at showing affection, at least to the point that Dave didn’t seem to understand him at all and was nervous about meeting a younger version of him. But I felt that drawing a more accurate version of Bro would not be as fun for myself or my followers. So I pushed the whole “eccentric-and-crazy-and-bad-at-parenting-but-well-meaning” version of Bro a bit more than I knew to be realistic. I thought maybe it was possible that Bro was more open and affectionate with Dave when he was a baby/toddler and he became more emotionally cryptic and distant and stern as he got older and closer to playing the game. I could reason that Bro was genuine and good to Dave at a time when Dave was too young to remember, hence why most of my comics involve baby Dave rather than teen Dave. 

But now, even this doesn’t seem possible. Even if he was less bad when Dave was little, he was probably far from good. And i can’t just pin all that on Lil Cal either. It’s very clear that both Dirk and Bro have strong inclinations towards evil, but unlike Dirk, Bro had free reign and nothing but a negative influence (the MOST negative influence in existence) to bring that darkness to its full potential. However, I do still want to believe there was some goodness in him somewhere, and that he had a moment of redemption before his death. 

But the thing is I’m not entirely certain about the future of this blog. I always wanted to at least try to be canon and only take creative liberties where there wasn’t enough information. It feels like continuing in the way I have been running this would be kind of disingenuous and delusional and a complete disregard of Dave’s suffering and anyone else who’s had a similar experience. And for me, I feel it would just make me sad to keep drawing happyfuntimes with the Striders. Knowing it’s not true, my heart really wouldn’t be in it anymore.

And while I am fascinated by this canon Bro on some level and would like to delve into his corrupt psyche and descent into darkness, I also feel that suddenly depicting a more accurate Bro would be very jarring from the usual content and not what people came here for at all. Like I’d have to start fresh on a completely new blog or do some kind of “event” if I wanted to try canon Bro. But really having to deal with his abusive nature would be way too depressing and horrible and triggering to even think about much less spend time drawing on a regular basis.

But I don’t want to stop completely. I really love this blog and the mere thought of retiring it is making me cry. But I’m probably going to take a step back for now at least until the hype from this upd8 blows over. I still have ask-the-prince-of-irony that I can focus on updating. I’ll make a formal post asking what I should do with this blog shortly. ))

But there’s nothing really ironic about a Texan in a cowboy hat.