[Ranting] [But Only Tangentially] so i just had to walk a half mile through a really bad storm to get home and i think i'm allowed to be a little petty about something people often say about umineko
2. The author may praise or condemn the character, but when the character's actions are shown or told, the audience must be given the opportunity to draw their own conclusions based on their interpretation.
If your character does not have these, they're not a Vriska. Period. 2 is slightly murky because talking about authorial intent in the writing itself can be difficult to discern but I remain steadfast in my conviction.
These are other important narrative cogs in the Vriska wheel, but not strictly speaking necessary. If your character is missing too many, though, they're probably not a Vriska.
This category filters out a lot of potential Vriskas. Considering how tightly entwined Vriska is with the narrative of Homestuck, I think it should be at least considered how the character in question interfaces with the narrative instead of just wholly characterization-based comparisons.
These, on the other hand, are traits that Vriskas tend to have as a result of their place in the narrative, and where a lot of comparisons are drawn from.
1. The character has a tortured relationship with their identity and self-worth, and their disastrous coping mechanisms for these issues often drive both their arc and the wider plot.
These traits are not at all necessary for a Vriska, but they're where people draw most of their comparisons from, hence the absolutely ridiculous idea of Erika as a Vriska.
Like, Umineko does have a Vriska, but the fandom doesn't debate about that Vriska because the fandom has a tendency to be more sympathetic toward that kind of character, while the environment Homestuck was written in was overly hostile to this archetype.
Yes, obviously, but also by this metric I think I'd argue that Bernkastel is a Vriska too. Number 2 of the absolute essentials list is a little ehhhh for her but she hits so many of the other marks that it makes sense.
i'll admit number 2 on the absolute essentials list probably belongs in the narrative role list but then it wouldn't be a neat 4/4/4/4 split and i'd go nuts
i dunno where gamzee goes later in the narrative post-cascade but I will say that Erika is like... sort of sympathetic when you start to think about what's implied with her backstory and her approach to truth and stories and how they interact, even if she's pretty unambiguously an antagonist
If you zoom out and look at what they do in the narrative, they both do the same thing: turn the story on its head in an entirely unexpected way, and provoke rage and disgust out of the audience
imo Erika's implied backstory is something along the lines of the tragedy of the Gifted Kid. Precocious, intelligent, and good at impressing grownups and sometimes peers from a young age, but probably raised in a family that demanded she was always the best she can be, and so ties her self worth inherently to being Smarter and Better than everyone
Mmm, don't quite agree on Battler in Karkat's narrative role. The thing with Karkat is that the effect he, personally AND intentionally, had on the narrative was quite slim? But Battler eventually does step up to the plate in Episode 6, even though he fucks it up extremely badly.
probably as she entered middle or highschool she got massively diminishing returns on her ability to earn admiration and respect and her peers started to see her as annoying or outright creepy, which at this point, she wasn't... actually that, nothing like she is in the story. Just a lonely snob with no friends.
like thinking about how she constantly needs to be seen as the smartest and to Win, her desperation to impress Bernkastel, her need to prove herself as Better than the people around her... just by that, Ava is able to deduce these things about Furudo Erika's backstory. What do you think, everyone?
she hates any "truth" that isn't that sharpest, starkest, and least sympathetic because she is so used to people talking behind her back and acting like they like her when they privately can't stand her
it's extremely telling how Battler is her enemy but Beatrice is her foil (and an obstacle to overcome). Battler is the exact kind of person she hates because he doesn't even have to try to have people like him. he messes up and is still important to people and isn't seen as just a worthless nuisance.
but Beatrice is too much like her for her to hate in the same way. She's a challenge, somebody to prove she's greater than, but not somebody she intrinsically hates.
jesus christ does this make battler karkat