WHY THE HELL DO YOU HATE VRISKA SO MUCH, GOD!!!!!!!! (spoiler: i don’t actually)

vastderp:

(I wrote this because I’m tired of being asked this stupid question and if I just go over it once I can bookmark it and link back in the future as needed)

Of course I don’t hate her.

I am fully aware of what a bad person she is and I appreciate the subtleties of her tragedy. She knows she’s a predator. She pretty clearly hates that about herself under the constant flurry of grandstanding, egomaniacal bullshit, but she still chooses to be cruel. She was pushed into that role at a young age, but lots of people are abused, that does not negate the wrongness of passing it on. It just makes her story sadder and more awful.

She has these moments where the self-delusion breaks down and she can almost but not quite grasp what a mess she’s made of everything, can almost see that she is her own worst enemy, and feels a strong urge to make it right. But even with all her considerable resourcefulness she is unable to turn off the bullshit long enough to break out of the cycle of abuse and shallow remorse that defines her character.

In the end, Vriska still chose the easy way out of her problems and rejected the work of true personal growth. It’s so sad to see someone with such potential try and fail to resist the temptation to do harm.

Which is why it makes me sad to see people identifying themselves as being just like Vriska in the real world. 

I get asked fairly often why I hate Vriska so much because I say things like this, but you know what? I don’t see anything approaching my own level of appreciation for the character from the fans who prefer her to be a blank slate for their own insecurities. 

i feel that stripping away Vriska’s strength of will (along with the cruelty that twists it), downplaying the role of free agency in her behavior when it’s convenient, and deleting her flaws when they don’t cooperate with the picture you have in your head is being a bad fan. This stuff ultimately reduces a strong, complex and delightfully horrible female character to your fandom paper doll. Why cherry-pick the traits you find pleasant and ignore the rest? This chop job on Vriska is like calling a piece of top sirloin a happy cow (and then yelling at everyone who uses the word ‘steak’ that they’re OBVIOUSLY VEGAN FUNDIES).

Now I want to get back to that thing I said before, about people who over-identify with Vriska. The type who see criticism of their favorite character, however metered (not that I personally have a setting between “not posting” and “ton of bricks”) as an attack, and jumps to defend her because it feels too much like they’re the one under fire.

It makes sense that some people strongly resonate with Vriska—she’s a vibrant, evocative pastiche of teenaged bad choices and super rad rebellion. She’s funny, she’s brave, she’s powerful and she’s not perfect or meek or weak. She walks around convinced the whole world has it in for her and is constantly breathing down her neck, even though she wants to please them and make amends for her past behavior. She tells herself she could fix everything all at once in an incredibly awesome explosion if she could just catch a goddamn 8r8k!

Except that’s self-serving bullshit, spins she puts on reality that make it seem like everyone is out to get her and she’s basically screwed by fate. The truth is you can’t just get lucky and fix everything. You have to be honest with yourself and with others. You have to declare war on your own ego.

You have to put effort into understanding your dark half and commit to a lot of struggling to defeat it. You can’t do that if you’re on its side.

That is why people who think they are Vriska Serket should be really happy not to be Vriska Serket. Because she had a choice, but she squandered it. She had her moment of clarity and ample opportunity to try a new path, but her quick-fix, selfish worse nature got the better of her in the end. That’s fucking sad. No wonder people prefer to see her as fate’s sassy but tragic bitch, doomed to be the bad guy behind blue eyes, the monster no one likes because she keeps making “mistakes” (double scare quotes and an eyeroll). 

And also? Vriska hurts people. Her lack of empathy for others is why so many people have visceral reactions to her. Ask yourself if that person might have had a run-in with the real thing and come out damaged? It’s not that rare, lots of people are bullied and we learn fast to see the signs. 

Vriska, Caliborn and Cronus give readers the sort of douche chills that can be found in real life. It’s not seeing shit that’s not there, it’s a rational response to a behavior pattern that we were conditioned by abuse to associate with an uncontrolled threat to our well-being. 

Good fiction evokes real experiences, and that’s not always pretty.

I think a lot of her creepers feel like Vriska helps them understand the part of themselves that makes them do things they regret. But guys, you won’t get better if you make excuses for yourself the way Vriska does. Bullies often have sad, small lives that would fill their victims with pity to hear, but it is not the place of the victim to heal the bully. Refusing to give a bully a second chance is not a failure on the victim’s part. What do you think we are, saints?

Look, we’re sorry you were dominated and hurt and no one stood up for you, and we understand that you probably turned to bullying to get back a sense of power, honestly we do! But you’re fucking horrible, so please find someone else to do your healing around. Part of recovery is accepting that sometimes there is no sorry big enough to heal what you’ve done, accepting that, and letting your wrongdoing become a symbol for the part of yourself you need to fix.

Vriska wasn’t capable of change because she thought it was a thing that would just Happen by wanting it enough, and her misery was mostly her own foolishness and arrogance coming back to bite her in the ass. That is why I don’t hate Vriska. I pity her and feel a sort of sick contempt for her as a person, but I think it’s fascinating that so many complex and universal issues can be explored with her character, and I am very happy that she refuses to be 100% evil even as she commits atrocities. It’s more interesting that way.