I feel like Scratch was the closest we had to an adult, traditional tumblr sexyman despite his.... less than savory (and somewhat explicit) pedophilic subtext.
This rings true. Doc Scratch was very popular and absolutely hit all the marks. The lack of a face and toolish unwarranted smugness and feelings of superiority really helped. Same for the fact that people could easily project Britishness onto that man, and gijinka him as a white twink. The ability to at the very least turn something into a white twink was very important. Bill Cipher, Wheatley, Cecil Palmer, Sans. White Twinkability makes or breaks it all. I can’t think of a single Black Tumblr Sexyman… Really cool!
Also, it is not subtext, it is text. Subtext is basically the writing between the lines. His pedophilic tendencies are remarked upon quite a few times and it is a thing he does act upon, and we directly see him act upon it quite a lot. Scratch might deny it, but it’s still objective fact. I’m personally of the opinion that a Doc Scratch-centric narrative would read exactly like Lolita. He reads the same as Humbert Humbert to me. If this wasn’t intentional, then that’s somehow even funnier.
did doc scratch contact kanaya on the meteor? i remember rose (+ like one conversation including jade), mindfang, and handmaid but was kanaya right after she became a rainbowdrinker?
Nope, not to my knowledge. He's been visiting her in person since she was an incredibly small child, though. Considering his... Tendencies, I really don't think he was normal about it. He's not exactly someone you're supposed to trust with kids. Quite the opposite.
You can see him here, actually. He's on the right.
It’s the fact that most of his time spent on screen is time spent being terrible, predatory, pathetic, and kinda just generally creepy with no true narrative intrigue to help flesh out his character. His most redeeming trait is, judging by other’s opinions, his looks, and that… Does not do it for me. His behavior just completely sours it.
Unlike most other Homestuck characters that can be described as “bad people,” Cronus neither has the level of comedy or level of tragedy to get truly attached to his character. Homestuck’s nature as a tragicomedy is what really helps characters who are “problematic” become the ones you can get the most emotionally attached to, for one reason or the other. Let me list some examples here.
Content Warning: Mentions of Substance Abuse, Regular Abuse, Ableism, and Doc Scratch… Existing.
Doc Scratch is… To put it lightly, weird about kids and kinda racist, but the inherent comedy of him being, like, 4 feet tall, floppy, and kind of a pretentious tool can at least make him entertaining to watch. That, combined with the valuable exposition he gives, as well as his looming presence and rather nice character design, can make him pretty enjoyable. He’s fun to make fun of, and he’s fun to watch get hit by a broom.
Vriska Serket, proudly holding the title of Most Divisive Character in the Comic, is a bully who disables someone and then abuses them for being disabled, but the inherent tragedy of all the trauma she faced at the hands (claws?) of her lusus, as well as being able to see what she would have been like had she not been in the constant state of a Fight response, makes her very fun to watch and even more fun think about. Ask most people who like Vriska why they like Vriska, and you’ll probably get hit by an essay. At the end of the day, she’s only 13, and she’s perpetuating the only cycle she’s ever known.
Gamzee Makara, another divisive, “problematic” favorite of the fandom, is… Okay, he’s a bit difficult. Gamzee is a cultist and a drug addict who killed a few people during his forced sobriety arc, and later on in the story became an abuser, with the depictions of this abuse being amongst the most violent and downright harrowing imagery in the entire comic. People tend to like him, though, because he’s… Honestly kind of hilarious, especially in earlier arcs. There’s an inherent comedy that lies within the concept of someone being a literal juggalo cultist that cannot die because, and I quote, “Clown Logic.” He orchestrates a good portion of the plot, and he’s a fun villain, and people love fun villains.
… Meanwhile, Cronus is kinda… well, his role in the story lasts about 5 seconds, and those 5 seconds are not exactly relevant to the main plot of the story, nor do they give off the greatest impression of him. He spends his time doing… Largely at least one of a few things- Being horrifically ableist, being entitled, being a sex pest, or attempting to guilt trip people into liking or sympathizing with him. He doesn’t exactly… Do… Much Else.
It’s genuinely really fucking hard to like a character when just about all of their character traits are negative, and executed in a way specifically designed to make you hate them. Who knew!
(ADDENDUM: If you’re down to clown with Cronus for his looks, that is not my business. I have tags and such filtered for a reason. I don’t step into those people’s territory, because it most certainly is not one either of us wish for me to occupy, and I hope they do me the same courtesy. I am not sending people anon hate or some stupid shit over liking a character. I’m just here for the meta.)
