The Cracked Mug v 2.0

[erikakaiser]

In terms of reactions to a bad breakup I guess spontaneously getting into Warhammer is better than becoming a Tiktok Shop girlie

[erikakaiser]

I read a book that made me actively mad, for the first time in a while, and I wanna complain about it

This entire post is major spoilers for The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, and up until the literal last two pages I was enjoying it very much!

The premise is--

Screenshot 2026-03-23 171057.png

I disagree slightly with that synopsis, because the focus on phrases like "independent women" and "feminist" are a bit disingenuous -- when Ursa and her husband arrive, the women of the village immediately stop doing things like fishing and "men's work," because they know in their society it's not allowed and is considered vulgar. Only a few, the very ones later accused of witchcraft, were willing to do the "men's work" in the first place, and only because all of their working age men catastrophically died.

(this isn't to imply those women made any kind of weak-willed decisions, but saying Ursa arrives and sees a bunch of independent women in trousers or something is simply not correct)

Ursa more accurately, in my opinion, finds female friends and enjoys their companionship, since when she arrives at the village she doesn't know how to do most basic housework tasks like making bread, keeping a fire lit, etc; she's always had servants, and her husband just assumed women all know Women's Work (tm) and so didn't think anything of it. So she learns how to take care of herself with the so-called Women's Work (tm) and becomes more independent, and develops a close-and-then-romantic relationship with Maren. Their relationship felt genuine and sweet, and I liked it.

Absalom was well-rendered as a person and villain, I think, where his treatment of Ursa leans more towards awkwardness than outright cruelty most of the time. He is dogmatic and extremely dangerous because of it, but I think the writer could've easily made him some kind of cartoon rapist villain and, thankfully, did not.

(he does have Not Great sex with Ursa but the Not Great is more issues of like.......culturally women-are-property? instead of the modern definition of non-con? He does not consider her comfort or pleasure and she just kinda lies there and accepts this as a physically uncomfortable chore, but honestly he doesn't seem like he's super enjoying himself either -- this is in deliberate contrast to the time Ursa has sex with Maren and stays mindful and experiences pleasure

anyway like I said Not Great but a little more complex because this is the 1600s and they are both Christians)

Absalom's witch-hunting picks up and there's a bit of the women making cliques and then accusing people of witchcraft and the whole The Crucible bit, although in contrast, the women unite after the first of them is burnt because it was horrific to see and kinda shocked them out of their squabbles. Eventually Absalom accuses Maren of bewitching his wife and begins to torture Maren to get her to "confess," until Ursa stops him by striking him on the head with a rolling pin, which kills him. She offers to run away with Maren, whose own sister-in-law (knowing she would soon be accused of witchcraft) went to run away to her native peoples, the Sámi. So, to be clear, the narrative has set up:

Ursa has become more independent and knows she can take care of herself
Ursa loves Maren
Maren loves Ursa
Neither can stay in the village from that moment
There is A Place where they could go, that someone else has gone for safety from the dogmatic, patriarchal society
Ursa is pregnant

but instead of, you know, having the 1600s gal pals flee together and raise a child in a safe community, Maren tells Ursa to go back home and be with her family and then Maren leaves, purposefully taking the fall for Absalom's death, and commits suicide by jumping into the ocean

when I tell you I wanted to throw this book across the room,

[erikakaiser]

Whether or not the characters are queer there is nothing that narratively pisses me off more than pointless, spontaneous tragedy

I have complicated opinions on whether tragedy needs to be "earned" because it really varies but if you're just like surprise!!! she KILLS HERSELF then man, fuck off

[knightofcups]

Wow, that was a setup to a basically happy ending without any pilot manipulation to make it so, and instead the author opted to manipulate into tragedy. wtf.

[erikakaiser]

I miss my dog

[erikakaiser]

I think one of the reasons House, MD still holds up for me (well, more or less) is the dialogue and pacing are genuinely snappy, and it makes me even more exhausted of Joss Whedon-style "wit"

[erikakaiser]

Watching House walk up to the pharmacy and ask for 26 vicodin and "Dr Wilson is prescribing" and Wilson just vaguely nods is wild stuff

[erikakaiser]

Wow Cameron's refusal to be honest with the parents of the sick-then-ultimately-deceased baby in episode 4 really hits differently after 5+ years of death investigation

Suck it the fuck up and tell them, I've taken dead infants out of people's arms before, your honesty over what's happening is not cruelty, there's no such thing as "giving hope" if you are just lying or withholding information

gnashes teeth

(she does get called out for this behavior but that she had it in the first place in such a specialty MD position makes me Madge)

[erikakaiser]

Screenshot 2026-03-26 195352.png

[erikakaiser]

good LORD Cameron is bad with patients, why is this woman a doctor

like obviously House is, House, but like, I expect his shenanigans, she is just constantly out of pocket and bringing her damage into things