strahdapologist

[strahdapologist]

Ismark The Lesser, Burgomaster-to-be and professional yearner

[strahdapologist]

Sometimes I see posts about how "I, Strahd" Tatyana has the personality of a cardboard but I don't think I agree honestly.

We only see her in very few scenes (all from Strahd's POV) and she's always very gentle and soft spoken.

Which makes completely sense since she was a lowborn orphan trying to make a good impression on her future brother in law, who is not only the ruler of the valley but also a feared war criminal. Of course she would try to be as nice as possible in front of him.

I also think that Strahd was extremely genuine in thinking he was in love with Tatyana, it's just that he never really knew her the way Sergei did. He only knew a facet.

[strahdapologist]

i very much dislike this sentiment, anon, for numerous reasons. as a dm especially, there are reasons that there are safety tools in place. though our adventures exist in the realm of fiction, the emotions they inspire are very real. there is a reason that there are lines and veils, there are reasons there are concept checklists and that is because even in the realm of fiction people can get hurt!

way to say you don't give a shit about people. this is a large reason why i've distanced myself from my cos blog aside from university responsibilities because my god, a lot of people do not give a shit about the safety of minorities. biphobia and whitewashing may seem like small things to some people, apparently, but biphobic tropes and the whitewashing of characters is extremely harmful to the bisexual community and to poc players of ttrpgs. it is ERASURE and it is both real and serious.

especially considering the history of racist fantasy tropes, it is salient that we remain mindful of any outdated ideas in our games.

it takes maybe 5 min to peruse r/dndhorrorstories or r/rpghorrorstories to see stories from thousands of people about games that harmed them emotionally. i know two people personally who were traumatized by dnd groups who used the mechanics of the game to sexually assault their respective characters. just bc these events occurred in the realm of fiction, does not mean either of these people walked away unscathed. the ability to say that fiction cannot or does not remotely affect you comes from a place of privilege, because you yourself have never felt hurt by harmful representation or erasure that overlaps with one or more of your identities. it is not about censorship or shitting on peoples' fun, it's about respect.

i won't tell people what to do outside of players at my table. but if bisexual erasure and whitewashing are what u wanna do, look inward. ask urself why. defend urself to someone who is bisexual and/or a person of color and see how the both of u feel afterwards.

stop telling people what to do, its dnd, its not real & that serious.

ok don't know which post this is about since i haven't posted anything in a bit, so i'll just say that speaking up about whitewashing ireena and the biphobia/erasure towards strahd isn't wrong.

i'm not sorry that it has apparently made you or others uncomfortable. speaking up about these things is important even if others may disagree.

i'm not telling people "what to do" with their dnd. of course everyone has the right to their own personal autonomy, it's just important to recognise and understand that the individual choices you make can still perpetuate harmful societal norms and attitudes. yes, even in your private fake dnd game. addressing issues like racism and other forms of discrimination requires introspection and personal accountability because meaningful change begins within oneself and extends to interactions in public spheres.

i would consider and think very deeply about how your private actions align with your stated public values. maybe consider why there might be a disconnect. why do you (general 'you') claim to support LGBT rights, yet continue to perpetuate biphobia/erasure? maybe reflect on the underlying beliefs or biases that may be influencing your behaviour, and challenge yourself to align your actions more closely with the inclusive values you claim to publicly profess.

the same goes for whitewashing and racism. reflect on why there may be discrepancies between your public stance against racism and your private actions perpetuating whitewashing or racial stereotypes.

also the thing with dnd (and by extension, fiction itself) not being "that serious" (which i assume you mean 'not real' or 'not influencing real life') is like. a common misconception. i know it's a form of entertainment for most people, but like every other form of fictional entertainment, it often reflects and reinforces our societal attitudes, values, and norms. fiction can and does shape our perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours, influencing how we perceive ourselves, others, and the world around us.

what this means is if you're perpetuating harmful stereotypes or discriminatory portrayals in your fictional story or games, they can contribute to the normalisation of harmful attitudes and behaviours in real life. this is why it's always important to critically examine and challenge harmful media (dnd) representation and also critically examine yourself and where your own biases may come from.

btw many gothic horror works have used the genre to challenge societal norms and conventions. horror is not an excuse to engage in private bigotry. challenging societal norms in storytelling involves more than simply depicting violence or discrimination; it requires thoughtful examination and interrogation of power dynamics, systemic injustices, and the ways in which individuals and societies perpetuate or resist oppression.

[strahdapologist]

Lugbúrz by Adam Burke aka Nightjar

[strahdapologist]

i hope u don't mind a reblog buuuuut when i was running cos more regularly (before grad school lol) i thought abt this a lot and for me in my mind he first had to do three things to seek redemption bc the way i see it, he's wronged three entities the first and most obvious being his brother who he murdered, the second being tatyana for being coveted and damned to an eternal cycle, and the third the people of barovia for being de-prioritized and damned with strahd. i think the last one is the most important bc to tatyana in ye olde i, strahd lore, she really cared about the people and her land. strahd was a heroic figure (sowwy other replies but even in 5e he says he was good and fair at some point so it's just incorrect 2 say he's always been a monster*) for freeing the valley of barovia from a tyrannical king. by killing sergei, condemning himself and tatyana for love, he has violated the social contract and sentenced his people, who he promised to protect, to darkness.

that in mind, to remain redeemed strahd would have to stay in barovia and do the thing he set out to do years and years ago, the charge given to him by his father, by his kingdom, by his title. his ambitions would transform into responsibilities and he would ensure the valley's protection and prosperity after having neglected those things for so long. this would in turn be a way to let go of tatyana but also honor what she longed for before dying (peace for her people)

i see strahd as calm, pragmatic, and fair post-redemption. perhaps a bit sullen, grieving what he had to give up to be here but choosing it every time because that's what the woman he loves would want. i don't think tatyana as written in i, strahd wants him to choose her, and this is why to redeem himself he would have to actively not choose her but instead choose to live how she would want him to. this also bypasses the idea that some people have of death = redemption because it doesn't. the end is a cop-out. there's no work done, there's no real changes made. to actually sit down and take care of his people is putting in the work, it is achieving actual redemption.

this is a controversial take tho bc i know even people within my own cos party disagree on some of these points, which is smth that makes this module particularly challenging to run. ultimately redemption looks different to different people, the question of what makes a good man can inspire a lot of emotions and such a philosophically and ethically fraught module can potentially be a bit draining, but extremely intriguing and ripe for storytelling.

to me, largely due to my own views and interests in political science, intl. relations and governance, his redemption would be politically inclined. so i like to see his redemption as a transformation from hobbes' tyrant-leviathan to kant's fair statesman once more.

*on this note i think people forget what original ravenloft was abt which was gothic horror which is about the monsters in us all, how love is horror, how love is ugly, how love is tragedy and turns us monstrous and this corruption includes the players. strahd is a monster bc he was corrupted, not bc he was born a monster which imo is far more compelling bc to see a villain that was once like you is far more horrific than seeing one that could not ever be you because somehow evil was "born" and not created by cruel circumstance but anywayyyyy

strahd nation. i have a question

lets imagine. for a moment. that strahd goes through a successful redemption arc (lets go of tatyana, therefore breaking the curse and freeing barovia or something). how do you think he would act?

would his personality change significantly or would he just be the same sans the tatyana obsession? would he remain in barovia, or would he leave? what would his ambitions be?

i want to hear your thoughts 👁👁

[strahdapologist]

of course strahd would let someone peg him. he’s bisexual.

[strahdapologist]

Happy Valentine’s from Castle Ravenloft 🫣💖

[strahdapologist]

ur welcome pookie 🥰🥰🥰

thank u sergei i looove death and dying

[strahdapologist]

since people still think ireena’s art is “ambiguous”, here’s a reminder that her denizens of barovia mini is brown.

so let’s stop whitewashing ireena / tatyana in 2024 please 💖

[strahdapologist]

hey did you know that uhh

i. the monster's body is a cultural body

ii. the monster always escapes

iii. the monster is the harbinger of category crisis

iv. the monster dwells at the gates of difference

v. the monster polices the borders of the possible

vi. fear of the monster is really a kind of desire

vii. the monster stands at the threshold… of becoming

[strahdapologist]

The vampire bites the woman he desires

[strahdapologist]

Commission of Strahd for @crowholtz 🧛‍♂️🌕

[strahdapologist]

“vampire as abuser” is such a unique tracy hickman take that it is so wild the amount of people within the cos / dnd fandom who just eat up his foreword without critical thought and why he might be pushing such a fixed agenda he’s a mormon.

anyway, the vampire motif is complex and has been constantly in flux and reworked since the nineteenth century. it is specific to the cultural, historical and personal experiences of the authors of vampire fiction where no singular vampire figure exists and there is no set canon. the nineteenth century vampire motif can be for famine, aristocracy / class divide, anxieties surrounding migration and ‘the other’, disease, life and death, oral sadism, fame (byron), the ‘new woman’, eroticism, sexuality, addiction, menstruation, blood as guilt, war, necrophilia etc. and yes, there are precursors for the vampire who can love.

while its current contemporary mutations have shown a departure from the earlier vampire motifs (like humanization), its appeal has always been in its adaptability and flexibility because they are the personifications of the human condition. fear, anxiety, love and hate in all their varied and diverse forms. hickman is full of shit and should read a book.

[strahdapologist]

Nearly made the mistake of not uploading this sketch

woe, strahd-in-a-knit-dress be upon ye

[strahdapologist]

I thought that since I’m finally on tumblr, maybe it would be worth posting a few older things first before the current ones.

So here we go. Some old quick portraits of Strahd von Zarowich. I’m working on an animation from my previous campaign, so such a small excercise some time ago has now pand off! And just look at him! He’s so cute! He just must be a good guy!

[strahdapologist]

I'm not immune to propaganda 😔

[strahdapologist]