came to a discovery last night :

AG: Isn't that what you want, Tavros? To 8e like Pupa?
AG: Of course you do! What 8oy wouldn't want to 8e like Pupa! So dashing and 8rave.
AG: He is everything you are not!
AG: For one thing, he can flyyyyyyyy.
AG: Do you want to flyyyyyyyy, Tavros?
AG: Have you ever tried to fly? I 8et you haven't!

(page 2174)

like ... ok . obviously loaded wording aside , tavros DOES want to be pupa , right ..?

so i tallied up every time pupa pan is mentioned :
tavros likes pupa, does not necessarily want to be him - 1
vriska imposes the identity of pupa onto tavros - 4
tavros is compared to pupa via the narration - 1
tavros refers to herself as pupa, in a way that is specifically reclaiming it from vriska - 1
misc - 2

note this only counts 'pupas' per scene , there would be wayyy more in ' vriska imposes the identity of pupa onto tavros ' otherwise

its also worth noting that in one scene , it is tavros being told to dress as pupa leading up to her sexual assault / repeatedly being referred to as him during it . in another , its meenah specifically calling tavros ' pupa pansy ' , one of many insults for an effeminate man . which is kind of nothing burger , but notable for my purposes ...

so .. DOES tavros want to be pupa pan ? any 8oy would .. hm /OBVIOUS IMPLICATION

now obviously , her flarp character IS based off of pupa pan . but i do think its worth noting that 1 , tavros takes flarp way less seriously than vriska and terezi ( i have compared her to ' a cosplayer accidentally getting caught up in kin drama ' , which i will not apologise for ) , and 2 , vriska and terezi dont necessarily ' like ' being their characters either . mindfang is a horrible role model for vriska , and part of her arc is growing up into her own person . the same goes for terezi , whos biggest mistake is playing the role of redglare and killing vriska . so like , ok . the pupa pan shit is less intense . but i definitely think some thought should be given to the fact that its repeatedly affirmed that tavros Becoming a pupa-like character would kind of fucking suck . cus shes a girl . much to think about