#obviously it doesn't really touch on anything during or post hivebent

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the actual short version is: read this pesterlog and try to tell me that 1) vriska doesn’t see herself as inherently “bad” and corrupted (a killer is a killer, and she’s definitely a killer) and that 2) she doesn’t absolutely hate herself and wish she could change

long version under the readmore

im not gonna super edit this bc i don’t. want to. so understand it was originally directed at someone who hasn’t read the comic and therefore it overexplains certain things. that being said, let’s a-go:

why do people hate vriska? and more importantly, why are they wrong?

basically first in order to understand vriska you gotta understand the society she was raised in

alternia is a very violent society, with death and violence being a lot more commonplace than it is in our world. also, the way the society is set up, the only people left on the planet are the children. once they mature they leave the planet to go work on the conquest of the galaxy. this is partly for practical reasons vis a vis empire building, but also for practical reasons vis a vis preventing the adults from killing the entire population of children

you're left with this planet populated entirely by children, raised in a society steeped in violence. their only caretakers are literal monsters who also cant even talk. obviously this is going to lead to troll kids having very very different lives than human kids

so that's the first thing. people ignoring or dismissing the context of the normalized violence and dog eat dog nature of alternian society

then there's vriska herself. she is blatantly being abused by her lusus who will literally kill and eat her if she doesn't bring it a constant supply of other trolls to consume. this creates a dynamic where vriska is constantly terrified of being killed by the creature thats supposed to nourish and protect her. for the first 13 years of her life, vriska is forced into this position where she has to go out and literally hunt and murder her peers in order to survive. which obviously does quite a number on one's psyche

because you've got that double combo of 1) violence and murder are less of a big deal to trolls AND 2) vriska is forced into a position where she has to be more ruthless than she genuinely is on the inside

thirdly, apart from the abuse from her parental figure, she is groomed by a literal child predator in a pretty transparent metaphor for csa. this pedo, doc scratch, is an omniscient, evil being who manipulates vriska into attempting to kill one of her friends, starting a cycle of violence that ends with tavros paralyzed, terezi blind, vriska armless and eyeless, and aradia dead.

readers obviously care more about the violence done to characters that we know and care about rather than the faceless masses that she killed before, so this is what a lot of people get caught up on, along with her constant cruelty to others, which i'll get to. but it's also obvious that vriska is eaten alive by guilt and deep seated shame because of her actions, and desperately wishes she could undo or fix the situation without having any idea how to. im holding off on including screenshots of convos, but this is not some subtle thing. anyone who reads what she's saying should be able to understand how destroyed she is over what she did

so going back and picking up the cruelty thread: vriska is a bully. there's literally no question about it. she's mean, and snide, and says some pretty terrible stuff. i would never argue that those things dont matter. bc she *is* a morally grey character, which is the part that people cant handle. she does plenty of shitty stuff, and whether or not shes sorry about it doesnt change the fact that it happened.

however, it's also painfully obvious within the text that the person she's cruelest to is herself. this is especially apparent in the conversation between her and her dead alt timeline self, whom she verbally eviscerates. like, tears her to shreds, leaves herself crying. vriska isn't cruel to others because she's an inherently bad person, she's cruel to others because:

1) the specific way she was abused means that she learned early on that weakness was unacceptable. in order to survive, she had to be tough, ruthless, and remorseless. however, internally, she's a very sensitive and insecure person (also. because of the abuse). therefore she's cruel to herself for not meeting the expectations she has for herself. also, this ties into an aspect of herself i haven't mentioned yet, which is her ancestor mindfang. mindfang was a ruthless pirate queen who basically did whatever she wanted and left a trail of devastation in her wake. vriska idolizes mindfang, and wants to be her. she even roleplays as her extensively. this is just another layer adding to her belief that being "weak" or "soft" is an unforgivable deficit

2) because of this, in some twisted way, she believes that her cruelty helps people. she picks on tavros over and over again because she wants to make him "better," especially since she feels so guilty for paralyzing him. she believes that other people just need to toughen up and go after what they want

3) she also bullies other people, especially those who she views as weak or deficient, because she's so angry and jealous that they've found a way of life where they don't have to be the way she thinks she has to be. when she confronts (vriska), her dead alternate self, (vriska) has become a lot more happy and vulnerable during her time in the afterlife. (vriska) tells vriska that she'll never be happy acting the way she does, and points out that she's miserable. vriska is furious because she *wants* to be like that but believes that all sorts of bad things will happen if she does

so some of this requires a little bit more critical thinking than other parts, but most of it doesnt require any kind of deep dive to notice

vriska is very blatantly an abused child lashing out at the world, who hates herself for not being what she was raised to be, and who has no idea how to even approach any of her issues. and honestly that's the other big thing that people leave out when they're hating on her. she's a child!! the comic covers her from ages 13-16. of COURSE she's selfish and mean and emotionally unintelligent. she's. a child. who has had NO positive guiding influences in her life.

vriska is absolutely not morally justified in what she’s done. there’s arguments to be made about moral relativism, but it’s quite clear that despite alternia’s violence the trolls actually have humanlike consciences. so vriska is absolutely culpable for all the shit she did, from bullying to murder. her remorse and self hatred do not at all forgive her or excuse her. but also… she does lots of good things too. she *tries* so hard to be good. and i genuinely believe that with an author interested in giving her a character arc she could have a very believable and satisfying redemption/growth arc

tl;dr i don’t think that her backstory excuses her from her actions, i just think it’s so important to note that those actions have deep reasons behind them and also that… vriska never really stood a chance

so did vriska do anything wrong?

hiiiii *twirling my hair* do you want the 1800 word essay i texted my friend or the short version. which is that yes but it’s ok bc i forgive her 😌