It's no problem. I admit, I'm not certain precisely what kind of length you're looking for. Hopefully I'll give you something that's at least close to what you want regardless though, and I'm sincerely sorry for the delay. I think I'm still just barely in the week limitation. If not, it's all right! It's my fault for losing track of time and I will preemptively inquire if I need to wait a month or so before reapplying (so long as no one else reserves/applies, that is). I know that's the case with failed AC and, I apologize if the answer to my question is given somewhere that I missed.
I guess the big, glaring reason Dirk is the way he is would be because of Dirk's living situation for the past fifteen years. Dirk raised himself in a post-apocalyptic environment where he was only one of two humans left Earth. The living conditions weren't entirely ideal, the world was overtaken by an alien overlord, the planet flooded, and Dirk lived alone in an apartment in the middle of the ocean. Basically everything he knows about humanity he learned himself through researching popculture and history (Something interesting to note is his introduction page doesn't specify which era of history Dirk studies. It's just "ancient" and, from his perspective of living in 2409, pretty much everything is ancient. That's the kind of detail Dirk would omit in order to avoid lying) rather than having first hand experience with humans. That said, at some point he did make contact with other humans (Roxy, Jane, and Jake) because of Pesterchum and because of the chat client Calliope gave him (and Roxy).
It's hard to say what Dirk was like before he met them, but we do see a flashback log of a twelve-year-old Dirk talking with one of his friends. There's a few minor differences in personality between younger Dirk and fifteen/sixteen-year-old Dirk, but the core personality is the same. Young Dirk aimed to research the history of the alien queen and his brother. In his research, he uncovered a lot about the fate of the kids guardians (Roxy's, Jake's, and his own), the Batterwitch herself, the events leading up to the world coming under her control, and the person the Batterwitch served. He also learned a lot about trolls (it's mentioned by Dirk that the Batterwitch tried to revive her species, failed, and then tried to force humanity to be similar to her race. After a few failed attempts and adapting her plans, she even made droids to raise humans in place of parental figures) and the fate of their race.
Basically, learning about things to overcome shortcomings or to satisfy his curiosity is a thing Dirk has been doing for a long time. If you want a little speculation, Dirk started researching humanity so he could connect with how people were in the past (on the opposite end, you have Roxy who occasionally uses troll terminology whereas Dirk uses Earth terms), so he could figure out what happened to the planet, and so he could find out what happened to his brother.
His nature of being kind of overbearing and controlling could be an innate personal trait, though even if it was doubtlessly it was amplified by his situation. On his side of things, he gave himself tasks to perform. He decided to find out about the Batterwitch, find out about his brother, and find out about the Batterwitch's employer. On top of that, he started training himself to get stronger, making deathbots to help with that task, and engaging in his various hobbies. But that's just what Dirk gave himself to do that deals purely with himself.
Turn it around and look at his friend's situations. Jane is a skeptic who has trouble believing things she can't prove are real or don't seem realistic. Jake is naive to the point where it seems like he'll believe anything anyone says. Both of these mentalities are, to Dirk, problematic. Dirk takes it upon himself to bring up these traits to both Jake and Jane often to help better them. He tries to make Jake stronger and is rather arrogant when it comes to the methods and thinking he knows what's best for Jake as well. The bulk of Dirk's tendency to be controlling and overbearing when it comes to these two seems to stem from concern. Sburb is dangerous, Sburb defies logic. Jane would need to, by Dirk's logic, adapt to survive and Jake would similarly need to stop believing everyone he meets otherwise he could get tricked or die. Jake also, again according to Dirk, needs to be strong to face the monsters on his island and to survive Sburb.
After Jake and Jane, there's Roxy. On Derse, Roxy was a drunk who routinely floated away and wandered far from Derse. Dirk tasked himself with following her and bringing her back so she would be safe (while pretending he wasn't awake so he could collect information in Derse more easily). On Earth, Roxy was typically very drunk and had a mind for making mischief. She mentions that Dirk used to be more on board when it came to making mischief with her, but in the log we see he is steadfastly opposed to any chaos that has no purpose. So on top of what Dirk gave himself to do, he also appointed himself Roxy's "keeper" of sorts and looked after her dreamself and tried to make sure that Roxy never did anything too pointlessly chaotic in real life.
Add to that Roxy seemed to team up with the thirteen-year-old copy of his brain that he put in his sunglasses and they were probably pretty overbearing. Over the course of the series, Dirk's Auto-Responder has taken quite a few cues from Roxy. He copies her jokes, he role plays things with her Dirk wouldn't, enables her behavior, and he is generally more open about certain topics than Dirk himself. Dirk sees the Auto-Responder as his responsibility in many ways. He created the splinter of himself so he's responsible for ensuring it has a "chance to thrive as an individual or surpass its limitations," he's responsible for the things it does, and, more than that, responsible for keeping it in check. AR's most problematic behaviors come out in his conversations with Dirk and Jake.
With Dirk, AR is often condescending, aggressive, manipulative, obnoxious, and overbearing. AR hosts an amplified version of the worst of Dirk's traits and, worse than that, AR frequently parades them right in Dirk's face to antagonize him. If there's something AR knows bugs Dirk, he will probably bring it up to challenge Dirk. That's the gist of their dynamic. AR antagonizes Dirk, AR tries to help Dirk, and AR fails to help Dirk. It's pretty easy to see that AR is tied closely with Dirk's sense of self-loathing.
That said, the point of all the above statements was to illustrate that Dirk assigns himself tasks and responsibilities. He overloads himself, stretches himself too far, and splinters due to a need to occupy himself. The point is also that he's become accustomed to being controlling and overbearing because of the tasks he assigns himself and a certain lack of trust in his friends; he needs to research, he needs to keep his status on Derse as secret, he needs to train, Roxy needs to be looked after, Jake needs to be looked after, Jane needs to be looked after, and he has to make sure his AR isn't doing more harm than good. If he doesn't do these things, they probably won't get done. It's an emotional concern that he validates through logical reasoning and continues to apply even after Sburb starts.
I think that's the most of the major stuff that I didn't elaborate on last time.
-> REVISIONS!
I guess the big, glaring reason Dirk is the way he is would be because of Dirk's living situation for the past fifteen years. Dirk raised himself in a post-apocalyptic environment where he was only one of two humans left Earth. The living conditions weren't entirely ideal, the world was overtaken by an alien overlord, the planet flooded, and Dirk lived alone in an apartment in the middle of the ocean. Basically everything he knows about humanity he learned himself through researching popculture and history (Something interesting to note is his introduction page doesn't specify which era of history Dirk studies. It's just "ancient" and, from his perspective of living in 2409, pretty much everything is ancient. That's the kind of detail Dirk would omit in order to avoid lying) rather than having first hand experience with humans. That said, at some point he did make contact with other humans (Roxy, Jane, and Jake) because of Pesterchum and because of the chat client Calliope gave him (and Roxy).
It's hard to say what Dirk was like before he met them, but we do see a flashback log of a twelve-year-old Dirk talking with one of his friends. There's a few minor differences in personality between younger Dirk and fifteen/sixteen-year-old Dirk, but the core personality is the same. Young Dirk aimed to research the history of the alien queen and his brother. In his research, he uncovered a lot about the fate of the kids guardians (Roxy's, Jake's, and his own), the Batterwitch herself, the events leading up to the world coming under her control, and the person the Batterwitch served. He also learned a lot about trolls (it's mentioned by Dirk that the Batterwitch tried to revive her species, failed, and then tried to force humanity to be similar to her race. After a few failed attempts and adapting her plans, she even made droids to raise humans in place of parental figures) and the fate of their race.
Basically, learning about things to overcome shortcomings or to satisfy his curiosity is a thing Dirk has been doing for a long time. If you want a little speculation, Dirk started researching humanity so he could connect with how people were in the past (on the opposite end, you have Roxy who occasionally uses troll terminology whereas Dirk uses Earth terms), so he could figure out what happened to the planet, and so he could find out what happened to his brother.
His nature of being kind of overbearing and controlling could be an innate personal trait, though even if it was doubtlessly it was amplified by his situation. On his side of things, he gave himself tasks to perform. He decided to find out about the Batterwitch, find out about his brother, and find out about the Batterwitch's employer. On top of that, he started training himself to get stronger, making deathbots to help with that task, and engaging in his various hobbies. But that's just what Dirk gave himself to do that deals purely with himself.
Turn it around and look at his friend's situations. Jane is a skeptic who has trouble believing things she can't prove are real or don't seem realistic. Jake is naive to the point where it seems like he'll believe anything anyone says. Both of these mentalities are, to Dirk, problematic. Dirk takes it upon himself to bring up these traits to both Jake and Jane often to help better them. He tries to make Jake stronger and is rather arrogant when it comes to the methods and thinking he knows what's best for Jake as well. The bulk of Dirk's tendency to be controlling and overbearing when it comes to these two seems to stem from concern. Sburb is dangerous, Sburb defies logic. Jane would need to, by Dirk's logic, adapt to survive and Jake would similarly need to stop believing everyone he meets otherwise he could get tricked or die. Jake also, again according to Dirk, needs to be strong to face the monsters on his island and to survive Sburb.
After Jake and Jane, there's Roxy. On Derse, Roxy was a drunk who routinely floated away and wandered far from Derse. Dirk tasked himself with following her and bringing her back so she would be safe (while pretending he wasn't awake so he could collect information in Derse more easily). On Earth, Roxy was typically very drunk and had a mind for making mischief. She mentions that Dirk used to be more on board when it came to making mischief with her, but in the log we see he is steadfastly opposed to any chaos that has no purpose. So on top of what Dirk gave himself to do, he also appointed himself Roxy's "keeper" of sorts and looked after her dreamself and tried to make sure that Roxy never did anything too pointlessly chaotic in real life.
Add to that Roxy seemed to team up with the thirteen-year-old copy of his brain that he put in his sunglasses and they were probably pretty overbearing. Over the course of the series, Dirk's Auto-Responder has taken quite a few cues from Roxy. He copies her jokes, he role plays things with her Dirk wouldn't, enables her behavior, and he is generally more open about certain topics than Dirk himself. Dirk sees the Auto-Responder as his responsibility in many ways. He created the splinter of himself so he's responsible for ensuring it has a "chance to thrive as an individual or surpass its limitations," he's responsible for the things it does, and, more than that, responsible for keeping it in check. AR's most problematic behaviors come out in his conversations with Dirk and Jake.
With Dirk, AR is often condescending, aggressive, manipulative, obnoxious, and overbearing. AR hosts an amplified version of the worst of Dirk's traits and, worse than that, AR frequently parades them right in Dirk's face to antagonize him. If there's something AR knows bugs Dirk, he will probably bring it up to challenge Dirk. That's the gist of their dynamic. AR antagonizes Dirk, AR tries to help Dirk, and AR fails to help Dirk. It's pretty easy to see that AR is tied closely with Dirk's sense of self-loathing.
That said, the point of all the above statements was to illustrate that Dirk assigns himself tasks and responsibilities. He overloads himself, stretches himself too far, and splinters due to a need to occupy himself. The point is also that he's become accustomed to being controlling and overbearing because of the tasks he assigns himself and a certain lack of trust in his friends; he needs to research, he needs to keep his status on Derse as secret, he needs to train, Roxy needs to be looked after, Jake needs to be looked after, Jane needs to be looked after, and he has to make sure his AR isn't doing more harm than good. If he doesn't do these things, they probably won't get done. It's an emotional concern that he validates through logical reasoning and continues to apply even after Sburb starts.
I think that's the most of the major stuff that I didn't elaborate on last time.