home2tuck:

the maid of light [x]

the witch of mind [x]

the knight of blood [x]

the prince of life [x] 

the heir of space [x]

(Source: goldpiilot)

that awkward moment when you post the wrong thing on the wrong blog

whoops

More like where are we, am I right guys? Whoa, whoa, whoa, lady. Last recap you had just finished Act 4! Then you gallavanted off to California like some mooovie star and left us here to languish in agonized suspense while you partied it up with your “new best friends” from Disneyland. What makes you think you can just crawl back here and—-

Shooooosh. Pap. Just siiiit that nice set of buns back down in that cozy chair of yours, and I will explain everything to you, my sweet, lovely little followersprite, who I so appreciate.

Yes, it’s true, I journeyed to the fabled land of Los Angeles for a graduation trip and devoured all of Act 5 along the way. As flattering as your indignant protests are, I ask you to be honest with yourselves: my commentary, or lack thereof, isn’t worth getting that upset over. Besides, can you blame me? I just wanted to catch up with the rest of you charming souls on the Homestuck road. It was lonely back there, being so behind. So here we are, together at last, at the commencement of Act 6, more or less. A fresh start! Onward, Internauts!

THANK GOD. Ever since this terrible scratch business was brought up, I had visions of Hussie either abruptly ending everyone’s existence or pulling a Wolf’s Rain and rebooting Homestuck with memory wiped John and Co. Both theories combined into one hysteria-inducing mix during [S] Cascade.

I couldn’t have liveblogged that flash. There’s no way to post tears and snot. Get with the bloody times, tumblr.

Wait. Excuse me. What? 

New session. All this talk of meeting new people. Do not broaden my horizons, Hussie. Are fifty characters not enough for you? I don’t want to meet new people. I like the old people. John and Jade and—- and — oh god—-

You did not just blow Dave and Rose to bloody chunks of green asteroid flesh in some horrible set up to have this Jake and his “bunch of friends” step in to fill their slots, did you, Hussie?

I’m with John on this one. I basically have no idea what’s going on, but I couldn’t care less. Dave and Rose are okay. That’s all that matters.

…. Except. That “trust me, I would know” line of Jade’s kind of intrigues me. Her fancy dress is a brilliant, inky sort of midnight black with the same fluorescent jade sparkles that the sun seems to be made out of. This is all the more interesting because Doc Scratch and his crazy, vicious, monster master Lord English have the same shade in their hideous color scheme. Do Jade, Scratch, and English all draw their power from the green sun?  I don’t like them being associated with her, even so loosely; it makes me nervous for poor Minty.

It’s not like she’s got a ton of lives to spare at this point, ya know?

Three years? Three years? 

An accurate summary of my feelings and reaction. Thank you, Eggy.

Of course it’s going to take them three years. This is the miserable, sad catch to an otherwise relatively happy Act V ending for the John and Co crew. Everyone made it out alive, no memories have been wiped, and they’ve gotten a second shot at making this whole Skaia thing turn around. I mean, things almost seem good for the kids. So why not dump a bucket of ice cold rain on their relieved, well-deserved parade? Reunion denied.

I’m very unhappy with this development. What the hell are they going to do for three years anyway? Eat face?

John and I are catching some sweet waves on this identical brain frequency here. “That son of a bitch” seems to fit Doc Scratch’s bill right now. Maybe I’ve overlooked some key point that is supposed to make me realize a note of dramatic irony in Eggy’s impassioned cry, but I guess my eyes and ears aren’t that finely tuned. All I can hear is the nails-on-chalkboard screech of Scratch manipulating and screwing them over. Somehow.

What’s going on again?

Oh. Right. Heartbreak.

Hello, Mr. Jack? This is the Prospit Postal System calling. Yes, I would like to confirm the delivery of a shit-ton of justice that a fine white carapace ought to be placing on your dark, blood-stained doorstep any second now. Also, please note, we do not service Hell. Keeping that in mind, this will be our last dealing with you. Goodbye.

Damn it, Hussie. I’m not in the mood for this redrom garbage right now.

Part of Homestuck’s “charm” is supposed to be inappropriate silliness during (usually literally) dead serious moments. I’m going to be honest with most of you: I rarely find it funny. Maybe that makes me a giant stick in the mud, but when one of my favorite characters is lying face down in a pool of his blood and some vengeance is about to be had by his lady love, I don’t want frivolous stuff like this distracting from what’s going on. You can tell me all day that the redrom/blackrom stuff isn’t actually frivolous, that it has significant meaning in regards to PM and Jack’s relationship, bluh bluh bluh. That may be true—in fact, I’m sure it’s true—but now really isn’t the time to go there. 

I just don’t care for Hussie’s nonchalant treatment of character deaths. I never will. Bluh bluh huge witch.

As much as this cap breaks my heart and makes me blubber into my open jar of nutella, I am glad for it. Finally some reverence. Right after I griped about him having none. Awkward.

Annnnd back to no reverence.

Someone explain to me WHY THE HELL GAMZEE IS STILL ALIVE?

KARKAT

WHAT

WHAT

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Seriously, guys. I hope you all have shocked and horrified Kanaya-like expressions slapped on your precious mugs right now, because this is downright disturbing as far as scenes go. Don’t get me wrong, I love Karkat, but I do not understand why he’s turned to Gamzee for comfort here. Was he blinded by his bloody tears and mistook the murderous troll for his girlfriend? Is is so distraught that he’s temporarily lost his mind and therefore thinks that it’s okay to hug the same dude that just slaughtered half of his friends? Or perhaps his grief is so overwhelming that he’s betting on the psychotic clown doing his bonkers serial killer routine and killing him, thus putting him out of his misery? Those are the only viable explanations to me.

I know these two are supposed to be hanging in the pale quadrant, but it seems like Gamzee’s demented rampage ought to have tainted that delicate color, if not stained it straight black. Personally, if my best friend started picking off the others in my circle in cold blood, I would consider myself done with her. I wouldn’t advocate for her death or anything, but I certainly wouldn’t run into her arms for a hug and a cry after she’s done all these things. Especially if my (non-existent) significant other was on the scene. Frankly, this moment didn’t make any sense; it seemed out of character and drummed up for the sake of a laugh.

Hussie’s fond of doing that, especially in the wake of a death panel. That’s part of the package, I’m aware, and it’s not so extreme (yet) that it makes me drop the comic or anything… but I really hope we start moving away from that. 

HAPPINEEESSSSSSSSS hit her like a train on a track. God tier Dave and Rose look amazing, but… it still makes me kind of sad to think of what they had to face to get there.

Honestly, would someone please get rid of Gamzee? Now.

Exactly, John. Exactly. 

home2tuck:

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This is a really good, succinct look at why Feferi was so relieved and happy to part ways with Eridan. I feel like a lot of people deliberately ignore the decision she made because they either can’t understand it, or they simply don’t want to, finding it an inconvenience to whatever Fef/Eridan feelings they choose to entertain. This is an excellent explanation and insight, so I advise you check it out, regardless of where you fall on the Fef/Eridan opinion spectrum. 

Be sure to give the blog itself a follow too! It’s awesome, as is the lovely gal running it! 

(Source: goldpiilot)

sassy-gay-dante-deactivated2012 asked: It would be really cool if you could do Terezi or Karkles next. Seeing how you kind of hated them when you started reading Act 2.

Haha, yeah! Those were the days, huh? Weird to think back, knowing that I love Terezi now. She’s definitely a front-runner for the next post! Thanks so much for the input and reading in general!

That’s what she said.

In all seriousness, let me know if there’s anyone ya’ll want to see get an opinion/insight post next. Or, if you don’t want to see anyone period and would just rather me cease this drawn-out nonsense, I’m perfectly open to that feedback too. I write these things partially for my own benefit, so I can really crystallize some solid feelings on a character; for my friends’ benefit, since they were quite interested in my opinions while reading but we didn’t have much time to avidly discuss them; and for ya’ll’s benefit, as I figure you can’t be totally disinterested in what I have to say given that you’re following me to begin with. 

Be that as it may, I know lengthy (but hopefully mildly entertaining and well-structured?) rambles aren’t what ya’ll initially signed up for. That’s why I’m going to start recapping again, starting with Act 6. Seriously. I am. I’m going to.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, HUH? You betcha.

thelightsintheskysarestars replied to your post: On Vriska Serket, The Tyrant Less…

I feel like I need to send you something hissing in response, thanks to that call-out.

What? That we don’t start a Real Housewives of Homestuck brawl at this fancy tumblr party? I know better than to take on a ginger. I’ve seen what the Weasley family can do.

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, I hardly care about offending the masses (though I feel like that’s an obvious fact by now), but I spent ages proofing and tweaking every version of that thing to try and make sure I didn’t say something that might be mad offensive to you. Nick and Ellis can’t be at odds. 8( This pair of overalls wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Of all the opinions I voice on this little slice of Homestuck cyberspace, I expect this one to be among the most controversial. I’m as shocked by this as you are unsurprised. Apparently you are wise to a recent newsflash that I missed upon its first release. It seems that people who manipulate and murder their friends for their own advantage and glory aren’t as universally disliked as one might originally suppose. Who would have ever dreamt it! Among this celebrated body of criminals, there is one I know, one that—I confess—I do not care for in the least (bubble burst?). Horns as crooked as the devil himself, lips as blue as the corpses she leaves behind, pointed teeth as sharp as the words and weapons she wields… Her name? Vriska Serket, of course.

How was that for an attention grabber? Offensive enough? Excellent!    

A CORDIAL INTRODUCTION   

Except it isn’t excellent. It’s terrible. Now that I have you here, let me make something plain: my beef is with Miss Serket, not her fans. Therefore, I apologize for that shamelessly attention-seeking, controversial grab (I MEAN, WHO AM I? HUSSIE?) and propose we carry on, good standing restored. Here’s a little bit more clarification for you. 

I think Vriska is a “good character” in the sense that she’s well-written, has an engaging story, and can be deemed complex. I do not, as I said, like her and, accordingly, don’t have her on my favorites list. Everyone establishes their own elite fav list based on different criterion, and that’s fine. Dr. Nick, for instance, says in her lovely essay that Vriska is “one of my favorite characters because she’s absolutely fascinating. [But] she’s a horrible, horrible person, don’t get me wrong.” I think it’s important to acknowledge these widespread, yet seemingly minute differences in favorite qualifications among the fandom so people don’t get their backs up unnecessarily. When I say that Vriska is awful, I’m speaking to her personal character, not her technical, from-a-writer’s-view character. On the other hand, when Dr. Nick says that Vriska is awesome, she’s referencing the latter rather than the former (or so I gathered from her essay). Yes, we disagree as to whether this makes Miss Serket worthy of “liking,” but look! We’re still friends and we’re perfectly capable of swapping essays to discuss the character at length without devolving into snarling, fangirl harpies engaged in a nasty, hissing brawl at this nice Homestuck themed tumblr party. Passion is applauded and discussion is encouraged (passionate discussion is the height of the echeladder here), but it’s to be understood that none of this is personal, so nothing should be read that way or penned with such intent.

Basically, behave yourselves. If you don’t think you can handle an essay with views contrary to yours, then I suggest you hit the back button. In fact, you might as well just close your browser and delete all internet applications from your computing machine, because you’re like a beauty queen at a monster truck rally. This just ain’t your scene, sugar. Now, witty retorts and clever quips like that ( though preferably ones of a higher caliber) are welcome in any submissions / responses, but keep it friendly. If I detect a taunting tone, then I’ll take you to town, amazing alliteration and all. 

Oh my good bloody gosh, Overalls, we aren’t total dunderheads. Can you just get on with this? (I hope you don’t mind that I’ll be transcribing your thoughts here periodically throughout the post so other members of the audience can hear your part of this discourse — because of course it’s just me and you talking, Present Reader, no one else. I would tell them how flattered you are by my undivided attention, but I don’t want to make anyone jealous, so we’ll keep that to ourselves. Inside jokes and feelings! We are best friends!) Uh, I mean, right, yes. On with it we get!

ALL BAD DEEDS (NEARLY) WENT UNPUNISHED

Considering this is my first major point, I’m not going to spend much time or space here. But why, you ask? Mostly because any reasonably sane person with a moderately sized brain in their head and more than a black hole for a heart in their chest can acknowledge the undeniable truth discussed in this section. That truth, of course, being that Vriska did some pretty terrible, pretty screwed up, pretty shitty things to the people she somehow called friends. 

Now, unless I’ve been doing this whole friendship gig wrong for the past two decades, it’s generally understood that manipulating your friends is frowned upon. This is especially true if you are blessed with grand psychic powers that permit you to control said friends through mind control. Real buds don’t make little Timmy go see The Grey instead of Hugo via brain voodoo. You would think it’d go without saying, but real buds don’t make you kill your girlfriend through the same methods for the sake of revenge either. Someone, however, doesn’t seem to have passed that memo along to Vriska. 

In fact, these missing memos must be a pretty big problem, because there are some other major ones that she doesn’t seem to have gotten. For instance, if you have a friend who isn’t playing up to your standards in a particular game, the solution is not to exercise your mind powers and make him fling himself off a cliff. If you do do this horrific thing which paralyzes your friend and confines him to a wheelchair, you certainly should not taunt him about being weak or attempt to goad him into climbing some stairs that you built for him in lieu of a ramp, even if your dubious intention is to make him stronger. After doing all this truly God awful shit to this poor soul who is unfortunate enough to know you, much less be tangled up in your web of complete, utter psychosis, you absolutely should not turn on him when he finally confronts you about everything you’ve inflicted upon him during your fucked up relationship. And, supposing you do (which you undoubtedly will if you’ve come this far, because you’re clearly out of your blue-blooded brains), you definitely shouldn’t run him through with a lance, especially not while wearing a giddy grin. 

Just where the hell is Vriska’s desk, anyway? Because those aren’t the only vitally important, yet obvious-to-any-decent-person memos she didn’t seem to receive. This one is huge: if you and your friends are fighting an incredibly strong enemy who could potentially completely annihilate all of you, you should not, under any circumstances, deliberately make him stronger, especially if that same opportunity could be used to make him weaker. It doesn’t matter how much you unnecessarily think you have to prove, or how badly you want to play glorious hero. Defying that memo is an atrocious, selfish, and idiotic thing to do. If, however, you do this atrocious, selfish, and idiotic thing, you definitely shouldn’t tell your friends that it’s some actually innocent girl’s fault and then permit them to torture and torment her across the time-space continuum throughout her childhood. That would be icing on the disgusting, despicable cake that is you. 

Above all, once you’ve ignored all these memos, don’t you dare act surprised that no one wants to partake of the cake that is you.

You are the worst cake. The worst.

I WANNA BE THE VERY BEST

Like no one ever was. To trick them is my real test, to kill them is my cause. I will flarp across the land, searching far and wide, for each Trollian kid’s helping hand, so I can serve it up fried! PSYCHOSIS! It’s you and me, crazy’s my destiny! PSYCHOSIS! Ooh, kill all my best friends, bring this world to an end! PSYCHOSIS! Our blood so blue, our genes will pull us through! You save me, and I’ll feed you, PSYCHOOOSSIIIS! Gotta slay ‘em all, psychosis! 

It’s a confirmed fact that Vriska listened to this song like Michael Phelps gearing up for Olympic gold as she brushed her teeth in the morning or rolled her sleeves back to paralyze permanently maim some innocent people. For whatever reason, the powers that be dumped it as her theme and picked up this noise instead. What gives, right? Clearly whoever penned the glorious number above is a creative genius who should be celebrated for her wondrous way with words, aliteration and rhyme especially. Dave Strider himself would adjust his sweet shades so as not to be blinded Terezi-style by the hells a ill light being put off by these sick beats. They are, simply put, dope.

Enough about that gifted lyricist, however, back to Vriska, who undoubtedly “wanna be the very best 8888).” Being the best and/or making others the best/stronger were often the professed reasons behind her terrible actions listed in the above section. It’s important to note that such ambition is not a bad, nor is determination. It’s when your ambition becomes so great that it fuels your determination to the point of overriding any moral constraints that the two otherwise beneficial traits turn into a detriment - for you and those around you.

There is no more fitting example of this in Homestuck than Vriska. She aspires to be like her lethal ancestor Mindfang, as well as live up to her role as guardian to her hungry spider lusus, and her determination to do so motivates her to kill thousands of children as arachniad food on flarping adventures and treasure hunts. She wishes to be “the best” at everything, and pushes these dangerous standards onto others like Tavros, aspiring to create heroes / non-boring friends worthy of her time well before she ever enters the Sburb gameplay. When these aspirations fail and her victims don’t live up to her demented expectations, she makes them pay. Once in the game, she seeks to satisfy her ambitious thirst making their enemy Jack strong so she might have greater glory in ultimately destroying him. When that plan (shockingly!!!) backfires and the Trolls find their hopes of eventual success pinned on the Beta kids, Vriska yet again aims to be the best and cultivate the hero in John… and all of this done primarily, if not entirely, for her own sake.

But Overalls, you begin with a heavy sigh (because I am such a giant pain in the freaking nook to deal with) Vriska’s culture fosters this ruthless drive in its young through the lusus trials, and she had one of the most demanding lusus of them all. To that, I say BLUH BLUH BLUH SO WHAT? Whoa, whoa, whoa—calm down over there, and take it easy on that keyboard, I can hear you revving up a scathing answer to my unbelievable insensitivity from here. At the risk of sounding like the politically incorrect trollaphobe you already think I am, cultural differences don’t really excuse the immorality of murder. (If you have high blood pressure, maybe you should stop reading?) Less than two hundred years ago, our culture used to think it was okay to enslave a whole race of people, and even kill them if we so pleased. Do you shrug that horrific arc in our nation’s history off because it was a different time and different culture with different values because of a different financial, political, and social climate? Of course not. That past culture is just as alien to us now as the Troll culture is, so I fail to see why murder should be condemned in one and excused in the other. 

Okay, okay, you concede, won over on that particular point by my undeniable reason and dashing good looks; but things were a bit different in Vriska’s case, as stated before — she had to feed her lusus or she would’ve been lunch herself! Well, well, well, You. Here, I will give an inch, a reluctant and half-hearted inch, because I can buy into the “survival / self-defense” justification more than I can any other. Or, at least I could have, if Vriska had gone about her duties with a little less enthusiasm and a little more hesistance. She prided herself on her ruthlessness and ability to manipulate others to their tragic demises, happy to mirror the vicious escapades detailed in her ancestor’s journal. I could maybe understand these “coercion murders” for her lusus if Vriska didn’t perpetuate the system herself by doing exactly what you say her lusus was doing to her: giving her no choice. 

Vriska prides herself on cheating, not playing fair, and tricking and manipulating others into doing what she wants, whether that’s through blatant mind control or slightly more subtle methods. In short, she traps people, corners them, and—if she offers a choice—she doesn’t really give them a choice. (“You know very well that I can make you go to that g8 whether you want to or not! … What will it 8e? Advance, or advance?”) She robs them of their free will. Even with cases like tricking John into god tier, it’s more a powerplay to exert her position as “the one responsible” than a move made for her own victim’s good. 

But she was brought up being told she needed to be strong, that’s why she makes powerplays like that. Yeah, Vriska was raised in a culture that puts huge emphasis on strength and power. But what could be stronger than bucking that system? What better way to gain power than to cease to acknowledge the cultural norms that exert the very same over you when you have the chance? The Troll culture could have ceased to exist when their planet did. Though they were denied the ultimate reward for a successful session, the Troll kids were nonetheless given the gift of a blank slate in regards to their own personal society. Blood castes could have been done away with, the teams could have been dissolved, the murdering and thirst for revenge could have been banned — Feferi’s dream of revolutionizing the Troll people could have been realized. But there were those like Eridan, Gamzee, and Vriska—all highbloods—who were unwilling to forsake the old ways and, through their selfish stubbornness and horrible actions, perpetuated the awful system they arose from.

Vriska had the opportunity to change who she was the minute she entered the Medium, freed from her old world and all the chains that went with it. She chose to keep wearing them. Yes, after meeting John and being exposed to his good heart, she finally began to entertain the idea that perhaps she made the wrong choice, but, by then, it was….

TOO LITTLE, TOO L8E 

My God, what a brilliantly executed transition, you’re thinking. This girl really knows what she’s doing. What an ace. What a doll. What a brainy babe. And to that, I say, guilty as charged, you stud! But look, we’ve got to keep this professional. There’s a truly troubled teen troll to talk about.

Wow, she can really work some alliteration—- NO SERIOUSLY, YOU, YOU’VE GOT TO STOP. I’M TRYING TO WORK. PIPE DOWN. Jegus. Thank you. This section is the most relevant (though not a direct response) to Dr. Nick’s wonderful essay on John and Vriska, so maybe You want to go check that out? I’ll still be here when you’re done.

Like I was saying, back to the barmy basketcase. After some exchanges with our cow-licked, buck-toothed, yet somehow not a hick hero, Vriska begins to doubt her own integrity, moral compass, and general worth as a person, as she should. Around John, who doesn’t? The kid’s just such a shiny hunk of 24 karat gold that makes even a newborn baby’s personal character look like a cheap, plastic ring with chipping yellow paint that twenty-five cent machines at the grocery store crank out. And, let’s be real, Vriska ain’t no newborn baby. To her credit, she starts to acknowledge that she’s done some downright shitty things (see part one of this post for more) to the people she somehow still calls friends, and I acknowledge that that’s a pretty big step in the right direction. It is, however, just that: a step, one step.

This one step really only takes place in one legitimate conversation at that. Yes, it’s a long conversation, but it’s still just one talk. In this heart-to-heart with John, Vriska does express remorse over her past actions and even some hesitations over a “perfectly justifiable killing” she seems to think she needs to do, but that doesn’t translate to her instantly becoming a totally different character/person to me. Mere words, no matter how sincere or heartfelt they are, do not change years’ worth of actions, especially atrocious actions. But she did take action to try and change it, she tried to go after Jack because she thought fighting him would fix all the horrible things she did, you protest. And you know what, You? I would agree with you if it were that simple, but it’s not. Of course it’s not, this is Vriska we’re talking about, and Hussie did a great job of creating a complex, divisive character.

Seeing as how Vriska is responsible for Jack’s unstoppable nature, I think her going alone to try and defeat him despite having next to no chance, sacrificing herself in an effort to protect her friends, would be a pretty redemptive act. Vriska’s motivations weren’t so selfless, however. Terezi warned her (GC: W3 BOTH KNOW YOU C4N’T B34T J4CK || GC: 4LL TH4T W1LL H4PP3N 1S TH4T YOU W1LL L34D H1M H3R3 4ND H3 W1LL K1LL US 4LL || GC: H3 W1LL FOLLOW YOUR SUG4RY P1X13 TR41L W1TH H1S K33N C4N1N3 SNOUT”) that if she went, Jack would deny her a fight and follow her trail back to the meteor where he would undoubtedly slaughter all the rest of the Trolls. Yes, if Vriska had been allowed to continue, she might have vanquished Jack, but the odds were incredibly slim; she even admitted as much when talking to John. Still, Vriska wanted to go. Still, Vriska was willing to risk her friends’ safety for ultimate victory. Still, she was willing to take the choices and fair chances away from others under the banner of her knowing best. That is selfish, not selfless. This isn’t unchanged behavior. This is the same thing she’s been pulling for years, just coupled with a new, perhaps well-intentioned, but entirely insufficient thin veil of “fixing things.” Terezi, who could no longer ignore Vriska’s dangerous behavior (yet still felt bad about and recognized the significance of what had to be done) wasn’t going to stand for it this time. And she didn’t.

I do pity Vriska for beginning to realize her mistakes too late. I am sorry that she didn’t have more time to have a full change of heart and become a better person through her actions, but — we must be honest — she had it coming. Vriska reaped what she sowed, and it was a bitter, bloody harvest accordingly. Her death was justified, so it stuck. It stuck good.

John and Vriska as a couple did have potential to become my favorite, Vriska herself even. I agree that he was a good influence on her. I acknowledge that she expressed remorse the terrible things she did. I completely concur that her confidence in John that she wanted to be a better person/Troll (more human-like) was a big deal and a great sign. Yes, I’ll even go so far as to say he changed her somewhat. But do I think she became a totally different person — a fundamentally and radically altered person? A better person? Absolutely not. Perhaps if there had been more time and her actions had proven her words sincere, that would have eventually happened under John’s influence… but, you know, I have the potential to write a best-selling series that resides fondly in the hearts of millions and generates films, theme parks, and copious amounts of crappy tumblr content, but no one is going to pay me as such until I actually do it. Likewise, how can I be expected to pay Vriska any fondness or respect merely because she has the potential to earn it, but hasn’t yet done anything to actually secure it?

A MOST LIKELY MIGHTY DISPLEASING FAREWELL

At the end of the day, it’s her potential that I mourn for; I don’t grieve for the girl she died as. Like I said, she had it coming, and, frankly, I wasn’t broken up about it when she got it.

[If you have any general comments or questions for discussion, feel free to hit up my ask box. If you’d like to submit a longer response or an essay of your own, knock on the door of my submission box. If you’d like to rip me a new one in any rage this might have provoked, however, I’m afraid I don’t have an appropriate outlet for you. Shatter some glasses of milk or punch some robots, maybe?]

[Written by Dr. Nick, 1.27.12]

Well, you said you wanted discussion, sooo I made a liveblog of a liveblog that quickly turns into an essay.

“… John … will change his friends for the better”
Case in point: VRISKA. I know you hate her, but you can’t deny the fact that interacting with John made her start to question her own incredibly flawed morality.

“[Karkat] blundered not once, but twice”
I think he blundered a lot more than that, because he’s such a huge derp.

Oh look never mind you addressed the Vriska thing

Oh no wait not everything

I get that you want to save her for another post, but she’s one of my favorite characters because she’s absolutely fascinating. She’s a horrible, horrible person (troll, whatever), don’t get me wrong. But I got invested in her character, and that—be it because of positive or negative emotions—is always a good thing. And if you want to just let this chillax in your ask box until you get to her or ignore it completely, that’s fine with me.

I’m not trying to try and vindicate her in any way. Just a heads-up. But her relationship with John is seriously my favorite one in the entire comic (I think it’s easiest to count it as a webcomic, flashes and sound aside), so I have a lot of feelings and opinions about it.

Okay. So. First things first, after she arranges his death. While she did it to help him in the long run, it’s a bit shaky with whether or not it would have been better if she had at least told him what was going to happen. Especially since you have the Terezi/Dave example to show what happens when you try to convince a time traveler to kill an alternate version of themself. The part with the doomed Dave is heartbreaking, and he knew what was going on. Sort of. There’s just really no nice way to go about getting the God Tier, unless you’re Aradia and just sleep on your quest bed until your planet gets blown up and suddenly you’re a troll-shaped TARDIS. “Manipul8ing” the time stream to get John in the right place for Jack to pop up is just as bad (if not worse) as having you kill yourself. But I digress.

Like I was saying. After he dies.

First of all, he doesn’t just dismiss or excuse the fact that she arranged his death. Personally, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that she herself did the deed, but there are unmistakable blue smeared fingerprints over the whole ordeal. It’s not so much extending a hand in forgiveness as it is rolling with the punch. It happened, he’s over it, they move on. The very fact that he could be mad at her doesn’t make sense to John (“um… no?”). That’s just the kind of kid he is. They’re friends. That’s all that matters. And she’s not dismissive about his feelings, even though that’s something she’s done plenty of times to other people in the past (I feel like this one is so obvious that I don’t need to find citations for it). And furthermore, she even shows some weakness, which is not exactly something Ms. BLUH BLUH HUGE BITCH is wont to do. Compare it to the first time they talked, and the difference in tone is stark, to say the least. Or, you know, you can look at the first time they talked about his dad:

So obviously John is having an effect on her. She kept the same flippant tone, but there’s no more talk about how “inferior” the humans are.

But getting back on topic, it’s later on in this same conversation that I think it’s really obvious how much he’s changed her.



She feels terrible about killing Tavros. Which in and of itself shows that she’s making progress. But the fact that she runs to John to talk about it and not anyone else (you know, like Kanaya who used to be in love with her, Terezi who was her best friend, Karkat who listens to everyone’s problems, Equius who she was in “CAHOOOOOOOOTS” with, etc. etc. etc.) says volumes. John is the person she trusts the most, even though she has known him for a much shorter amount of time. She goes to him, even though she doesn’t think he’s going to understand, and he listens.



I don’t think that she just needs someone to listen to her problems to make everything better. This isn’t something you can just SHOOSH PAP away. She has done awful, awful things. But when she goes to John, he tries to understand this alien culture, even though he’s morally opposed to it. I’m not calling him a moral beacon in a sea of crazy alien shenanigans, one because I think that’s overdramatic, but two because he’s a thirteen year old kid, even though he’s obviously wise beyond his years because Hussie. Like any kid, he thinks killing is wrong, and he says that many, many times. But this sad, confused, and deranged little alien girl starts talking to him, and he does his best to listen. He’s scared and obviously doesn’t approve or understand this culture that gives it a big old thumbs-up, but he tries to talk her through her catharsis. This is unlike Dave, who would probably try to make it better by being a bro, or Rose, who would analyze every last thing in the conversation. John is a great human being because he empathizes with everyone he comes in contact to. A wonderful non-Vriska example is the flash [S] John: Enter village.

Amid the smooth-jazz stylings of “Planet Healer,” we see John being all non-symbolically rendered while he interacts with the cute little salamander dudes. He helps buy one lunch, hands out hats like a TF2 player doing a raffle, and is just generally a sweetheart towards everyone he meets. Because that’s John. He’s a sweetheart.



Sweetheart. And that actually brings me back to the whole reason why I started typing this essay up.

So I think it’s fairly easy to call them friends at this point. They both show genuine interest and concern for the other and for their life.



She waits for him. She literally sits in front of her computer and waits for him. She’s gone from manipulating his every movement to just waiting for him to come back so they can talk one last time before she probably goes to her death.

And she’s doing it because she wants to be a better person. All because of John. She just wants to spend time with him. This murderous “spiderbitch” just wants to be a kid for the first time in the entire class, and it’s all thanks to John.

And then she dies, and they go on their “d8.” And everything I have been saying gets spelled out in one single simple line:



I mean this without hyperbole: she literally becomes a different character. And just to hammer it in some more: it is because of John. He’s such a good person that he can change one of the most mean-spirited characters in the entire comic. Is it a complete and total change? No. Had she survived any longer, and got to interact with John more? I think it’d be more than possible.

So tl;dr, John’s awesome and nice to the point that his goodness rubs off on other people. I don’t know if I needed to write this much to explain that, but hey. When I think of his character, this is the best way to summarize it, so I wanted to share.

I’ll leave you with a silly John quote that fits into the rest of this essay.

Doctor Nick out.