Can I ask why you find Tavros to be so repulsive? Like, he's not my favorite troll by far, but I do find him to be a rather sympathetic character. I was sort of surprised at your recent speculation that he's so irredeemably awful he could be the sole reason the trolls don't win their session and that he even deserves to die because of it. (Which - no offense - sounds a lot like something Vriska would say.)
((In the middle of my next post, which I took multiple breaks from. This is a great ask, and more like it would be appreciated in future! It gives me a chance to clarify thoughts on a specific topic in a direct way.))
I’ve probably exaggerated the extent to which I dislike him so far. Re-reading the speculation from my post earlier today, I agree that it reads as being very antagonistic towards him. I would like to point out that my speculation there was largely based on the his lack of physical capability, because I really can’t imagine him taking on and defeating a powerful enemy. Through that, the “losing the game” part was based on possible game mechanics that could make sense. I think that much is fairly reasonable.
Let me be clear though: I don’t think that Tavros deserves to die. Especially not at this point in the story. He is very much the victim of some unfortunate circumstances, that were forced upon him by others (namely Vriska). With respect to his paralysis and the harassment he received because of it, I agree with you. Those are undeserved, and it is terrible that he has had to go through them. As far as I am concerned, there is no debate there.The reason that I suggested that he be one of the Trolls to get killed by his denizen was because it would serve as just punishment for failing his friends by not being able to defeat his denizen (and then failing to seek help with it or tell anybody). I did not mean that he should die because he is “terrible” or anything like that. However, I still don’t like his character, and I guess I should properly explain why:
Ever since we met him, Tavros has proven himself to be unintelligent, and lets other people walk all over him. Not once did he ever stand up for himself toward Vriska’s abuse in their conversations. All he had to do was exit the chat or tell her to stop, just once, and I would have respected him for it. I think that is the root issue here, it is difficult to respect a person that does not respect themselves. Even in the scene before Vriska makes him jump from the cliff, he never tries to do anything about his circumstances. He seeks out help from Terezi and Aradia when he really should have been trying to help himself. Tavros did not stand up firmly for any of his beliefs (or his safety), even when his life was potentially on the line. I admit that he is a friendly enough person, but even that can be explained by his excessive passiveness and not wanting to make waves. Another problem I have with him is that he does not recognize this; he is highly un-self-aware. Remember when he tried to Troll Dave, but ended up making a complete fool of himself? Tavros doesn’t seem to properly understand what’s going on around him or his role in it. For these reasons, I find him annoying and don’t like him. He isn’t a malicious person, and he is not terrible, but his deep character flaws (more specifically, the nature of his flaws) make it impossible for me to like and care about him.
Hopefully that makes a little bit more sense. Time to finish writing the regular post …
(Oh, and I am a little offended that I would be compared to Vriska, but I understand where you’re coming from. Maybe this helps a little, maybe not.)
