Man, that was an experience. I truly wanted the best for Mari, we see that she has a lot of self-doubt coming from her mother which then affected how she perceives failure and expectations. I think her mother pushed her down so much that Mari couldn't justify the pain she would go through if she needed help when her mother wouldn't give it. So she was more comfortable being complacent and in pain even though it never helped her.
Then Goldie comes which is ironic given that Goldie is a "golden version" of Mari, I find it interesting that Goldie has the same memories as Mari but is more optimistic, I'm thinking that Goldie "has" the memories but she views it like an audience member in a theater whereas Mari felt them more viscerally which makes it hard for her to accept Goldie's chances because of her inferiority complex to everyone and now herself.
I genuinely wanted Mari to get better, she was exhausting and painful to read through but if it hurts this much seeing it, I can't imagine how painful Mari's life is living through it. I related to Mari as the fear of failure and rejection, but I also envied Mari so much because Goldie kept giving Mari so many chances, chances I also wanted to experience and yet she pushes them away like some sort of self-sabotage. I'm sure Goldie had good intentions, but I also felt like she was a bit suffocating even though someone stubborn like Mari really needed. I think Goldie was too close for Mari to think that she needed help, if she could at least go to therapy to rework the trauma and complicated feelings towards her own happiness, maybe Mari would have become more thoughtful and less abrasive.
But nobody knew how to handle Mari, even she didn't know how to help herself without relying on self-destructive methods until eventually she lost herself. It hurts knowing there are people like Mari who go through even worse, and the endings were really good since it none of them felt like a good ending for someone like Mari who can't heal herself.
Amazing work on this! It truly flipped my expectation of "scary mannequin taking over your life" and showed a complex heartbreaking protagonist and the trail of bad decisions and consequences they go through.