Eridan Ampora

[Sahxyel]

One of the best written characters introduced in act 5 imo. Also he has some real choice ass jewellery.

[calamityCons]

One of the best written characters introduced in act 5 imo. Also he has some real choice ass jewellery.

[Notchine]

One of the best written characters introduced in act 5 imo. Also he has some real choice ass jewellery.

man this makes me super sad thinking about how stuff turned out after this

[Nep]

Real talk. How well would have our fin boy done in that showdown if Kanaya didn't pop up?

That was one interesting showdown I kinda wanted to see happen. Lowkey bummed my patron interrupted it.

[livingNingyo]

I know Eridan would be confused on Gamzee's look, considering he was wearing Equius' glasses and Nepeta's hat. The scratch marks and blood isn't helping either. He would probably go for Gamzee first if that purpleblood doesn't get to him first. Gamzee would definitely target for Eridan, being the only highblood left that technically is above himself. Maybe mention that their planet is gone and that hemopsectrum don't mean shit now for Eridan or anyone else. Which is ironic considering how Gam ordered Equius to kneel.

His black feelings to Vriska would still be there that would make him hesitate to kill her, but he might die by Vriska's hand.

[arachnidsGrip]

Since we have threads already about 'problematic' characters like Vriska or Dirk how about an Eridan thread? Love him or hate him I like reading people's opinions and then afterwards debating them, or just appreciating things like his design or theme song. Feel free to walk in and say your mind about the violet prince!

Honestly? I don't like him. I don't like him at all. He wore Feferi out in their moirallegiance while giving noting in return, then KILLED her for daring to stand up to him when he had the amazing idea to join Bec Noir, who absolutely would have killed him in an instant. I think he's shallow and undeveloped, I think he's pathetic, and I think he got what he had coming. I also firmly believe that you can't justify his actions. All I see him as is a selfish murderer.

[Nep]

Spoiler

Show

Since we have threads already about 'problematic' characters like Vriska or Dirk how about an Eridan thread? Love him or hate him I like reading people's opinions and then afterwards debating them, or just appreciating things like his design or theme song. Feel free to walk in and say your mind about the violet prince!

Honestly? I don't like him. I don't like him at all. He wore Feferi out in their moirallegiance while giving noting in return, then KILLED her for daring to stand up to him when he had the amazing idea to join Bec Noir, who absolutely would have killed him in an instant. I think he's shallow and undeveloped, I think he's pathetic, and I think he got what he had coming. I also firmly believe that you can't justify his actions. All I see him as is a selfish murderer.

Now hold up there. Eridan's isn't as selfish or wile as you think, because if he even was he'd killed Karkat on the spot as well. You could argue he only defended himself from people with the intention to kill him when it came to feferi since he didn't kill Sollux in the duel. Also there's one thing to consider is that they were truly in a hopeless spot. Wouldn't you try to appease the beast or something? Bec Noir was on a whole another league compared to the trolls so it makes sense he gave up.

He's only pathetic in his romantic approaches, but beyond that he's just a confused kid who is struggling with romantic emotions and he never forced anyone to go with him or else. He simply begged like a chump, but at least unlike Jane he's staightforward about it.

Also as for wearing feferi out, remember that it's not a grateful job to keep glyb or whatever fed. The work means you have to kill lusii which kind of makes people despise you obviously, even if he did it as a way to have some leverage on feferi. Regardless he did put her feelings into consideration when it came to that kinda stuff.

If anything he may be selfish on some aspects, but he isn't at least Vriska tier selfish (She delusions of being the saviour and thinkings she's hot shit, even though in an alternate timeline where she confronted Bec Noir directly did fuck things just as badly due to her overconfidence because it led to everyone's death on that meteor.). He can even be grateful in a genuine way when someone helps him and can also show disappointment in not having someone to accompany him, even if it meant that he's the reason why the angels were batshit crazy.

[Sahxyel]

Real talk. How well would have our fin boy done in that showdown if Kanaya didn't pop up?

That was one interesting showdown I kinda wanted to see happen. Lowkey bummed my patron interrupted it.

The whole thing with Murderstuck looks like it reflects and reverses the Ancestor stories a bit with things like Vriska killing Tavros (the Summoner kills Mindfang), Terezi stabbing Vriska (Mindfang killed Redglare), Equius failing to kill Gamzee (Darkleer letting the Disciple go free and live, thereby 'protecting' her life), and even Kanaya killing Eridan (Dualscar assassinating the Dolorosa). I figured if this was a kind of trend as I was reading that Eridan then would have the opportunity to kill Gamzee because the Grand Highblood is the reason why Dualscar died in the Ancestor stories, at least before Kanaya eventually killing him as I was anticipating since her body disappeared, but this didn't really come to pass.

Even still, I don't think Eridan COULD have killed Gamzee. I also think for that x3 showdown visually the only dangerous looking one there was Gamzee. Vriska and Eridan aren't splattered with the blood of their own victims, though Eridan in his reign of nihilistic murderspree might have been so inclined to include his rejected pitch relationship with Feferi in the dead body club just for the principle, it could also be that Vriska and Eridan don't know of each other's sins or intentions but only that they happen to be in the same place as the other and are initially confused or annoyed by why the other happens to be there. Meanwhile Gamzee is standing there with the personal items of Nepeta and Equius with distinctive bleeding scratches on his face. I feel it's likely if the fight would have opened it would have started with either Eridan aggressing Vriska for wholly personal reasons, or Vriska and Eridan mutually aggressing Gamzee for being the most dangerous looking of the three.

[calamityCons]

I also want to point out that, as a serial reader, there were WEEKS between Jack Noir's becoming prototyped with Becquerel and the flash where Eridan starts lashing out, and in that interim everybody in the forums was scrambling for a way to find out how to stop this monster and what could possibly be done to make the situation better. Attempts to befriend or join with Bec Noir was not out of the question, and in fact a lot of media features the heroes choosing to befriend or pacify the villains in some way as a subversion of the Final Battle story beat. Eridan's decision was to join Bec Noir in the hopes that it would spare him, not only because of that, but also because he's seen a Jack Noir become friendly before.



Upon my first reading through the story I thought Eridan's plan was desperate and stupid, but I was easily able to put myself in his shoes and try to think the way he was, and I honestly thought that maybe Eridan could try if it weren't for Bec Noir being significantly more bloodthirsty and less empathetic than Spades Slick. As the reader I knew that, but Eridan Ampora did not. I do not, for one moment, blame him for trying to find a solution to the problem. And I can't really side with Feferi and Sollux when the first thing they thought to do was stop Eridan through the use of force rather than through trying to calm him down.

[Leddy]

Now hold up there. Eridan's isn't as selfish or wile as you think, because if he even was he'd killed Karkat on the spot as well. You could argue he only defended himself from people with the intention to kill him when it came to feferi since he didn't kill Sollux in the duel. Also there's one thing to consider is that they were truly in a hopeless spot. Wouldn't you try to appease the beast or something? Bec Noir was on a whole another league compared to the trolls so it makes sense he gave up.

He's only pathetic in his romantic approaches, but beyond that he's just a confused kid who is struggling with romantic emotions and he never forced anyone to go with him or else. He simply begged like a chump, but at least unlike Jane he's staightforward about it.

Also as for wearing feferi out, remember that it's not a grateful job to keep glyb or whatever fed. The work means you have to kill lusii which kind of makes people despise you obviously, even if he did it as a way to have some leverage on feferi. Regardless he did put her feelings into consideration when it came to that kinda stuff.

If anything he may be selfish on some aspects, but he isn't at least Vriska tier selfish (She delusions of being the saviour and thinkings she's hot shit, even though in an alternate timeline where she confronted Bec Noir directly did fuck things just as badly due to her overconfidence because it led to everyone's death on that meteor.). He can even be grateful in a genuine way when someone helps him and can also show disappointment in not having someone to accompany him, even if it meant that he's the reason why the angels were batshit crazy.

I'd argue yes so that he is selfish and a bad guy, Sollux and Feferi only attempted to stop him after they learned he was going to for Bec Noir, which would put EVERYONE in danger of being killed, including Eridan. It probably wasn't the smartest choice they could go for true, but it wasn't uncalled for considering what Eridan was saying he was about to do. You also don't mention that his blast very nearly killed Sollux and was likely meant to, and beyond that he attacked and destroyed the Matriorb for no provokation and reason, Kanaya only attacking him afterward and him just blatantly murdering her.

He's a pathetic chump who expects his relationships to go wonderfully even though he's overbearing and a lot to deal with. Had Feferi NOT been there for him and him trying to get into her flushed quadrant, he very well could've committed that Genocide he was after, the only reason he didn't lighten up on the feeding schedule and get what he wanted (Which was GENOCIDE) was because it'd make Feferi unhappy and ruin his selfish chances of getting into that quadrant.

He isn't as bad as Vriska in ego, but he's certainly a jerk who expects things to go his way and who wimps out when things get hard despite being of the Hope zodiac (I understand he's a Prince, but that is because of how he acts, he gives up on hope far too easily and actually properly destroys the actual last hope for no provocation.

He's not total evil, such as that reaching out to Feferi because he cared, but he's twisted, his morals become twisted, and he whimps out when things get hard and ends up murdering multiple people and the actual last hope they had because of that.

[arachnidsGrip]

nidsGrip post_id=4168 time=1574451220 user_id=233]

Spoiler

Show

Since we have threads already about 'problematic' characters like Vriska or Dirk how about an Eridan thread? Love him or hate him I like reading people's opinions and then afterwards debating them, or just appreciating things like his design or theme song. Feel free to walk in and say your mind about the violet prince!

Honestly? I don't like him. I don't like him at all. He wore Feferi out in their moirallegiance while giving noting in return, then KILLED her for daring to stand up to him when he had the amazing idea to join Bec Noir, who absolutely would have killed him in an instant. I think he's shallow and undeveloped, I think he's pathetic, and I think he got what he had coming. I also firmly believe that you can't justify his actions. All I see him as is a selfish murderer.

You could argue he only defended himself from people with the intention to kill him when it came to feferi since he didn't kill Sollux in the duel. Also there's one thing to consider is that they were truly in a hopeless spot. Wouldn't you try to appease the beast or something? Bec Noir was on a whole another league compared to the trolls so it makes sense he gave up.

Oh yeah, it definitely was self defense, but he wouldn't need to defend himself if he didn't have the awful idea of joining the person who's trying to kill them. And personally I don't think he was trying to appease the beast. He was trying to join him, not appease him. Appeasing the beast would be something like letting the beast kill him, or sacrificing his friends. He was trying to save himself, and he was willing to join the person killing his friends if that meant saving himself. That's pretty selfish from my point of view.

Also as for wearing feferi out, remember that it's not a grateful job to keep glyb or whatever fed. The work means you have to kill lusii which kind of makes people despise you obviously, even if he did it as a way to have some leverage on feferi. Regardless he did put her feelings into consideration when it came to that kinda stuff.

You know, I never actually considered the lusii killing that Eridan did for Feferi. But that doesn't change that he wore her out with his constant emotional theatrics and I don't think he ever even made amends for that. No apology, no nothing. It gives me the feeling that he doesn't even feel like he's in the wrong for wearing her out. My memory might be failing me on that though.

[calamityCons]

Annotation 2019-11-22 150748.png (66.69 KiB) Viewed 28717 times

Eridan is in fact being dramatic and self-deprecating in such a way that strongly reminds me of my friends who have been suffering from severe brainwashing or gaslighting, as well as trying to lash out as a response to some mental illness situation. I interpreted it as him being worthy of sympathy but it is also easy to see it as him throwing himself a pity party in an attempt to take back control of the situation in a toxic way.

I'm not saying this to invalidate any opinion, by the way. Different interpretations of the same character is often informed by things outside of one's control, such as personal experiences and just when and where they read the story. I just want to defend Eridan because I like him, and I think if he got some sense knocked into him he could have become someone really amazing.

[Sahxyel]

You also don't mention that his blast very nearly killed Sollux and was likely meant to

He kills Feferi, highest in the hemospectrum, easily. Sollux is a lowblood, notorious for being really easy to kill, and the blast we see him hit Sollux with looks like this:




Versus this:



Looks to me like he pulled his punch for Sollux.

[egg]

I think it's worth saying that I relate to Eridan a significant amount. I suffer from chronic loneliness issues to this day, and when I was younger I've said a lot of shit, including stuff that's remniscent of the quote CC posted a little above. It's because of my understanding of his particular mindset that also allows me to comprehend that the guy really is selfish and entitled, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's stupid or that he doesn't care. I don't think he was any more deserving of death than Vriska was, perhaps far less so, and I'm kind of upset that he was just kind of completely thrown under the bus and forgotten (except for Erisol, which gets some mildly failed reconciliation with Feferi and then ceases to exist) after he died. For most people who've had to deal with clingy guys like him, he's difficult to sympathize with, and I reckon that even if he were to survive, he'd need a lot of therapy to be brought to an acceptable status. There's a lot of stuff to forgive here and understand here, but forgiving and understanding isn't the same as saying that he doesn't need to change.
I see a lot of people singlehandedly blaming Feferi for his shit - Feferi was pretty bad in his situation there too and didn't help at all, but I also like Feferi a lot, so I can't exactly go ahead and go "Feferi is the scourge of Eridan's existence". I always say that were I in his shoes, I'd have shot to disable and not to kill, but then, not many can say they were stuck in a small gray drab place with a bunch of stress-filled individuals trying not to be noticed by something that wants to kill them very hard and feeling like they have no other choice.

[Cyber-Fan]

Looks to me like he pulled his punch for Sollux.

I looked at that scene again and it seems to me that the reason Sollux didn't die is because his eye beams decreased the strength of the blast. It just doesn't make sense to me that Eridan would have gone easy on the person he hates the most, who had also just told him he should have killed him in their first duel, but not done the same for the person he cares about the most.

[VASKA]

Looks to me like he pulled his punch for Sollux.

I looked at that scene again and it seems to me that the reason Sollux didn't die is because his eye beams decreased the strength of the blast. It just doesn't make sense to me that Eridan would have gone easy on the person he hates the most, who had also just told him he should have killed him in their first duel, but not done the same for the person he cares about the most.

I think it's entirely possible that Eridan had pitch feelings for Sollux. It was quite the ship back in the day and Eridan specifically seemed interesting in Pitch or Flush romance, so it's entirely possible his conflict with Sollux was less "mortal rivalry" and more "aggressive flirting". It's possible that Eridan pulled his punch for someone he thought he still had a shot with, but didn't hold back for Feferi under the impression that their relationship was already beyond repair.

[Sahxyel]

Looks to me like he pulled his punch for Sollux.

I looked at that scene again and it seems to me that the reason Sollux didn't die is because his eye beams decreased the strength of the blast. It just doesn't make sense to me that Eridan would have gone easy on the person he hates the most, who had also just told him he should have killed him in their first duel, but not done the same for the person he cares about the most.

I think it's entirely possible that Eridan had pitch feelings for Sollux. It was quite the ship back in the day and Eridan specifically seemed interesting in Pitch or Flush romance, so it's entirely possible his conflict with Sollux was less "mortal rivalry" and more "aggressive flirting". It's possible that Eridan pulled his punch for someone he thought he still had a shot with, but didn't hold back for Feferi under the impression that their relationship was already beyond repair.

I'm with VASKA in thinking that Eridan was crushing hard on Sollux, waxing black for him that wasn't reciprocated. In normal pitch it's not supposed to rise to the point of being downright murderous and there's also the stance that Eridan didn't kill Sollux because he was still at the point he was showing mercy on Feferi's behalf. He, after all, hadn't initiated the fight and Sollux was the one who threatened to kill him. It puts him in a very good place to look better for it and for things to calm down until Feferi leaps in a rage at Eridan.



Question! Has Feferi EVER prior to this point looked so furious or exhibited this kind of raw rage at anyone? Eridan has known her longer than anyone, and from my impression Feferi has never raised her emotional response to anything aside annoyed anger. Why in the world would he, hell why would ANYONE, think she is just going to knock him out after KO'ing her boyfriend? And if you look at this composition, doesn't it look familiar to a panel that happens a little later, by someone we do know can and would have killed Eridan?



In fact, most of Murderstuck proves that KO'ing isn't ever on the table of the stakes for the trolls! Tavros faces down Vriska with firm resolution to kill her for her involvement in Bec Noir. Vriska, rather than just knocking his ass out, kills him effortlessly for his trouble. FL1P doubles down on this, since Terezi never considers the 3rd option of simply knocking Vriska out, but the black and white choice of live or die. I think that wasn't an accident to set up, same as I think the escalation of fatal consequences slid onto the table here. I actually think if Feferi got to Eridan she would have killed him!

Now is it okay that he killed Feferi and later Kanaya just because of this cascading series of unfortunate events? Well duh, of course not, same as it wasn't morally okay for Vriska to kill Tavros or Terezi to kill Vriska.

[calamityCons]

The fact that almost all of the trolls except Eridan were unwilling to consider anything other than murder implies a whole fucking lot. Actions speak louder than words, and for all of Eridan's talk of genocide he never goes through with it until Feferi's attack topples him over the deep end and he destroys the matriorb and also kills both Feferi and Kanaya.

His villainous actions don't really flow well from his behavior leading up to it, in my opinion, but he's sort of middling there. I can see the hand of the author puppeteer the trolls on their meteor looking for excuses to murder the very characters he decided were important enough to introduce and spend ungodly levels of time with and yet not interesting or important enough to actually participate and contribute to the story. A lot of it just felt like severe backpedalling and really fucking shitty attempts to keep up the public performance of Creating Homestuck.

Thinking about Homestuck as a performance that requires daily response, I was suspecting that Hussie was either getting bored of the story he began to tell with the trolls because he didn't have that authorial love for them. As a writer myself, it's very easy for me to tell when an author doesn't love their own characters or story, and I think that happened a lot with the Homestuck trolls because Nepeta, Feferi, Eridan, Tavros, Sollux, Aradia, Equius, and Gamzee never deserved the shit that they got from the narrative, either deleting them from the story completely by killing them (Feferi, Tavros, Eridan, Equius, Nepeta), warping their personalities to create Moar Conflict (Eridan to a lesser extent than airheaded happy-go-lucky Gamzee) or just plain ignoring them forever (Sollux and Aradia).

Murderstuck always has been and continues to be a piece of shit segment of Act 5 and I hate it >:/ grrr

[egg]

or just plain ignoring them forever (Sollux and Aradia).

Aradia was so good before she ascended that I wonder if, even despite all of his vehement denial that he was trimming the characters for writing convenience, that the sheer size of hte cast was getting out of hand for him.

[calamityCons]

or just plain ignoring them forever (Sollux and Aradia).

Aradia was so good before she ascended that I wonder if, even despite all of his vehement denial that he was trimming the characters for writing convenience, that the sheer size of hte cast was getting out of hand for him.

I don't believe it when Hussie denies things like that. He's covering his ass all the way, trying to pretend he had it all figured out from the beginning and it's impossible for me to tell when he's trying to be facetious and sarcastic or when he's being sincere and trying to ACTUALLY set the record straight. I've felt that Hussie was trying to delete the characters he didn't like from the story, but the response was bad, so he introduced the dreambubbles, but then that means the dreambubbles became overrun with trolls and shit.

Anyway this isn't the place to talk about authorial intent, this is a place to talk about Eridan, and you know what?

Eridan is fucking stylish and I wanna play dress up with him and an alchemiter. See what kind of outfits he'd drum up.