Smokey

The House Wins: Chapter Six

Added 2023-04-26 12:00:01 +0000 UTC

As set up last chapter, I wanted to explore the idea of Mallory helping to bring another woman into the fold in Stepford, the way that most women in these stories try to help convert one another. She's been so brainwashed that she genuinely believes it's the right thing to do, and that she's doing a good thing in helping to support Stepford's patriarchy.

The character of Kristal is a bit of a different subject for Stepfordization, however. Most of Mya and Mallory's gang were brainwashed by force (with the exceptions of Mya herself and Ruthie), so I wanted to show a woman who was instead more susceptible to peer pressure. And if there's one thing Stepford is good at, it's pressuring people to conform. Kristal still gets that extra push of course, but she's ultimately much more easy to convince than Mallory ever would have been without the drugs and punishment she endured.

And of course, there's the facet of how Mallory herself rationalizes this to herself, how she convinces herself that her brainwashing is correct, and that she's doing a good thing in pressuring other women to conform to the ideals she once rejected.

Hope you enjoy!