Cunthia

carrie is almost explicitly about the cycles of abuse. it is almost explicitly about how women and girls are taught to reproduce the patriarchy. it cannot be isolated from either message.

it shows cruel teenagers not as a random whacky plot point but instead to highlight that we are taught to mock other girls for not being fuckable; lest we ourselves be considered not-fuckable. we will eat our own kind to survive. nobody helps her because to help carrie would be to turn against the patriarchy.

carrie's mother has experienced abuse at the hands of her husband and religion not as a "sad backstory" but instead because it lampshades her behavior when she then turns and abuses her daughter while citing that same religion. we are forced to ask the question: what is the difference between the patriarchy and religion? aren't they both systems of control? we often see mothers as being the "ultimate" in innocence and kindness - but this book challenges that narrative. abusive mothers exist, and and always have. abusive women exist and always have. white women, after all, love voting for donald trump.

men are almost absent from the book, but their presence lingers. it feels almost like the red mark made after a slap - the men do not have to be there; the women will continue to abide by the rules without question. it is a devastating, haunting condemnation of the notion of feminine fragility. it accurately asserts that women are cruel, are capable, are power-hungry - and often are hiding behind perceived innocence to mask that cruelty. the abuse carrie experiences rests in a doubled betrayal: it is because of another woman. the supposed "sisterhood" is revealed to be thin, a guise of equanimity that is only offered to the "right" type of girl/woman.

many of us were not the right type of girl.

to go back on these main and obvious themes of the book - to rewrite the mother as some caring and sad creature is... a curious choice. i can't explain it, but it feels almost like censorship to me. it refuses a deeper meaning of the book (and one that questions the patriarchy) in favor of the incredibly thin plot of "what if scary girl had scary powers." i literally don't even know what level of misogyny it is that we have to defang everyone around her in order to tell her story. i'm baffled by it.

in the era of trad wives endlessly posting abusive content of their children online - the adaptation had plenty of meat to modernize her mother. in the era of AI and revenge porn and social media - there's a huge amount of space for a competent writer to play around in. after all, if the abuse is recorded and posted to media - and as the audience we're watching it without interfering - the story is now about us. it asks us who we are comfortable bullying.

it's okay if you feel like you don't have the writing chops to talk about how many religions are abusive and tacitly enable domestic violence. it's okay if you feel like you couldn't write a believable teenage bully. it's okay if you're just interested in "scary girl has scary powers."

A birthday gift for my friend @polyanitsa

Her OC Libushe and my OC Commander

CIS ME

This time, it's about The Mourner. I often draw her, but I don't think I have written anything (at least, I don't remember).

I played her for about a year and a half, when we went through the "Curse of Strahd" campaign. Her worldview is neutral evil. She is a warlock/cleric from the domain of death, who made a pact with Velsharoon, the deity of her church.

Mourner is a dhampir. Her real name was Damanta, and she revealed it only to one companion, Typhus. They became very close during their journey. She kept her name secret from everyone else. She introduced herself by the name the Church gave her. She tried to erase all traces of her mortal life in herself.

Life is fragile, so she dedicated herself to achieving immortality. Her main goal was to search for research and extend the mortal state and form. She did not allow anyone to be distracted from this research, because the result justified the necessary sacrifices along the way. Knowledge is power, and knowledge of life and death gives power over all living and non-living beings. As a devout follower of her god, the Mourner saw a non-life as the highest form of existence. She also wished for a similar fate for her allies.

Being part undead, Mourner was warmly welcomed by the followers of Velsharoon's Church. It fed her ego and belief in her own uniqueness. Her ambitions grew, so when she discovered in one of the dusty books the story of Vecna. A lich who was also capable of rising above mortals. She set out to find the pieces of his inanimate body in order to gain divine essence. That's what brought her to Barovia.

Such views on life, worldviews and egos caused a huge number of conflicts between those with whom she was in Barovia. She was especially fierce in her arguments with Holly, who had diametrically opposite opinions about everything. However, overcoming difficulties together and caring for each other inspired affection in the Mourner for her companions. Therefore, when Typhus died in battle against the Lich wielding the hand of Vecna, The Mourner decided to spend a Wish to bring her friend a new undead status.

“But then how will anyone see it?” peer review.

“How do you get engagement?” by talking and engaging with other people. Or making a devastating typo. Either way.