#it's upsetting but it's horror! i'd go as far as to say it's queer feminist horror!

[clarasghosts]

i know i just made a claudia post two weeks ago (and i've chatted about it with friends), but i have to say something again because i'm not ready to let go of her yet. to me, claudia is the most relatable of all the characters in the show. while vampirism is repeatedly shown to have its drawbacks, claudia specifically demonstrates what it means to feel stuck in life. uniquely among the characters, claudia is barred from the traditional markers of adulthood. our society's predominate concept of womanhood, specifically, is being a wife and a mother (don't worry about your silly degree and career ambitions, you'll feel most like a woman when you fulfill the social roles of a woman). the other vampires take companions, have partnerships, have roles within society or within their covens. they can create other vampires and become something like parents, but claudia can't even do that. despite being, at this point in the series, in her forties, everyone around her treats her like a child. she will never grow up to them. it's not just that she looks like a child, it's that they are furious when she expresses how hurtful being treated like a child is. throughout both seasons, they are condescending to her.

and she can do it on her own. she knows she can. she did it on her own for years. even when she had louis by her side, she was still largely holding it together on her own. but it's exhausting doing it on your own, it leaves you hollow. she doesn't want to do it on her own anymore. she wants love, she wants community. and finally, she finds people that she thinks she could belong with and love, but they don't want her. they don't really see her for her, either. so she decides she'll make her own path, and she finds someone who does, finally, see her. who loves her. she claws her way out toward something better.

and they'll kill her for it.