I think a lot of the people who act like Gamzee is sweet, innocent, and a victim of Hussie who has done nothing wrong completely just blanked the memory of the Gamzee-Terezi abuse arc out of their minds. The shit he put Terezi through was not only visceral and hard to stomach, but all done completely out of malice and hate. He’s hurting her because he knows he can do it, and that she can’t stop him from doing it.
Gamzee does not lack agency. No one was controlling him when he was abusing Terezi. He did not lack agency in the scene where he was beating Terezi within an inch of her life. He was in complete control of his actions. This soft, harmless Gamzee that some people believe in so religiously simply does not exist.
This is easily the most violent scene in Homestuck. The brutality of it is real and undeniable- the heavy glitching on Terezi’s face specifically seeming almost symbolic of the pain she’s experiencing more than anything else.
This panel- this entire sequence- does not show a Gamzee under the influence of drugs or mind control. He’s doing this of his own volition. Of Gamzee’s own volition, he’s committing violent abuse. Self defense isn’t a valid defense of this- he kept beating her and beating her and beating her well beyond her no longer being a threat. This is malicious. This is genuinely horrible.
