@pearls sorry my phrasing was a joke yes. but i did mean it sincerely. lord english symbolically represents patriarchy as an oppressive structure, and his constituent characters (dirk, equius, gamzee, caliborn) in the story are enactors of patriarchal violence.

a large part of the reason vriska is so hated is misogyny, when people say she did nothing wrong they are specifically defending her from that. vriska was an abused teenage girl, dirk was a constituent part of doc scratch. i dont think dirk as a character exists to be forgiven or redeemed, i think thats a deliberate narrative choice. and it is because he is a man 🤷‍♀️