why did vriska's name suddenly start appearing in parentheses like (Vriska) now that she's pirate vriska or smthn? did i miss something in the update?

It’s because there’s two Vriskas and it would get confusing reading 

Vriska:
Vriska:
Vriska:

So (Vriska) is a way to differentiate the two. Hussie did it before when two John’s where interacting aswell.