#this is Davis the tormentor

[ask-the-witch-queen]

This guy just pulled up to my throne world and started speaking gibberish. What do I do and what the fuck is a round meal?

[mellowtrait]

List 5 facts about a favorite sim of yours, and send this to 10 simblrs whose sims you adore ♥♥♥

Ahhh, I'm honored, you're one of my fav Simblrs, and I'm in love with Anani, thank you for sharing her story with us 🥰

I might post more than 5 facts because I was also tagged by @moonwoodhollow (thank you so much, I'm obsessed with your builds honestly and I can't wait to follow Suzette in her simventures 👀)

SHERI (tw: death, alcohol, bullying)

(if you've been following her story, you might already know most of this stuff but since I mostly give out details in the tags, they might have easily been missed + I tend to do a lot of time jumps, so this way, I'll have a way to explain/elaborate on some things so you can have all the info!! anyway enough rambling, here goes)

She grew up in Glimmerbrook in a manor her mother inherited from her own parents (which then went to Sheri). After her mom's death, she moved to Willow Creek (she currently lives there with her fiancé, Griffin… but for how long? 👀) The house is still in her name, it's just abandoned and is considered a haunted house by many (a group of teens probably ventured in there to scare the crap out of each other when no one was looking).

Her father was an author but never got the recognition he (thought he) deserved, ended up drowning his sorrows in alcohol which lead to arguments between him and his wife until he was ultimately kicked out of their house. Although she loved both her parents, he was Sheri's favorite because her mother was always more "distant".

She felt lonely as a kid (at home, at school)/was bullied constantly. She had an imaginary friend who took many a forms and would protect her from those who hurt her/made her sad. Hence her reaction here, she kinda liked having the power to protect herself from her tormentors. Her mother was scared of her especially since as growing up, Sheri embraced her 'new' powers, although she only used them to help those in need. Once she left Glimmerbrook as a young adult, everything went back to "normal" she finally started living her life but kinda kept to herself most of the time because of everything that had happened to her until now.

After HS, she enrolled in the Mortuary Science Program, far from home. Long drives home (to visit her mother who was not doing so well) didn't bother her at all since she loved being on the road/couldn't stay still for more than a couple minutes (still true).

She is a mortuary assistant in the current timeline, but if you've been following from the start (my first posts are in the future, when she goes back to Glimmerbrook (spoiler? not really)) she is actually a mortician (she's the lab's Tru Davies, if you've seen the show Tru Calling / the difference is: she helps the dead but she doesn't relive the day to save them).

She loves art, exercising (riding her bike), travelling, reading in her free time. She's also a great baker, it sort of relaxes her.

Griffin is the first person she's ever been in a relationship with (she was too scared to hurt her partners in the past; she would go on dates and then ghost ppl) They kept running into each other and ended up going on a date, then two, three, and the rest is history. He's a chef. Everything was going smoothly, Sheri was the happiest she's ever been until he moved in/proposed to her...... now she's having nightmares again......

[yourfandomfriend]

Russell T. Davies is about to get torn to shreds.

‘Cause it’s easy to look back on something you loved as a kid or teen and call it perfect, especially back in 2005, and call the person who made it a genius or a cinnamon roll. But social media, fandom, and the current Climate of Discourse has changed a lot. It’s no country for old men.

Not only that but right now, I can’t think of a single fandom for an on-going IP where the fanbase is pleasable and the showrunner/author isn’t despised and literally threatened with death on the reg. And as much as fans would love to think it’s because those people are all hacks and deserve it, nine times out of ten, it’s about power and expectation.

That’s why this happens so often with ongoing series, like tv shows and franchises. With a stand-alone movie, you can take it or leave it and there’s no time to build up expectations for what you want to happen, or bond with the characters and develop a sense of ownership over them. But with an ongoing series, especially with tv, there’s so much time to anticipate and so many opportunities to be proven wrong or disappointed by the latest installment.

In those cases, the person in control of it starts to be seen as a tormentor, as someone with so much power (that fans believe ought to belong to themselves) and everything they do must be part of an evil agenda they’re “forcing” on characters and viewers. Characters are seen as real people with feelings and rights whereas showrunners are seen as “public figures” who can be harassed and threatened in good conscience.

And the last ingredient will be brutal: RTD has been put on a fandom pedestal for decades. The expectations for what he’ll do and how it’ll feel to watch his episodes is far too high to meet, the fanbase is too varied in their appetites, and a lot of people are going disappoint the hell out of themselves and pin the blame on him.

It’s only a matter of time.

[dxntloseurhead]

some excerpts from yaz’s article in british vogue

[ID: Multiple screenshots from an article about actress Yasmin Finney. The screenshots read, “A dream for any young actor, not least one with a single screen credit, the role will turn the teen into a household name - and is set to reshape the TV landscape in the process. I mean, how many young trans actors can you name in long-running prime-time BBC dramas, not to mention a series as quintessentially middle England as Doctor Who? "It will change the world," she says knowingly, eyes sparkling over high cheekbones. As Finney sips from a technicolour slushie in Inflata Nation's café, candy-cane halterneck and bubblegum trackies matching the pink-and-purple seats, it's unclear if she knows how much her life will change too.

Finney has always felt a call to represent. It was on TikTok - where she currentlv has 1.8 million followers and counting - that she found her first audience creating videos about the trans experience, the most viral on a crush's reaction on learning. ("It's so sad dating as a trans person, because you've gotta explain yourself to people, like, 'Oh, hey, look, I hope you don't mind. and then prepare for answers that shouldn't be the case.")

Those calls got louder. A lip-sync to a quote from the show Pose - in which house mother Elektra snaps back at a transphobe without taking a breath - caught the eye of actor Billy Porter's team, who asked her to send a self-tape for the lead role in his directorial debut. Around the same time, she auditioned for Heartstopper. News that she got both roles arrived a day apart (although, the pandemic would prevent the Porter project from happening). "I went from nothing to having a feature film and a Netflix series" she says, still in disbelief.

Finney auditioned for Doctor Who before Heartstopper came out. Director Euros Lyn alerted Davies to the talent coming his way. "When you get into the casting room," Davies writes over email, "there's only one question: can you act? And that's where she stole the show. She was immediately right. My greatest worry was whether 57 other shows would snap her up instead." Watching Finney since has been "an education", he adds, "to see someone commanding such attention - and let's face it, such enmity - with grace and wit and a wonderful smile".

Raised Catholic alongside her half-sister by a Jamaican mother (she's never met her Irish Italian father), her earlv life was coloured by poverty and bullies - at 11, she was living from hotel to hotel while facing tormentors at school. "Being a Black trans woman, I've been forced to grow up early," she says, softly.

As we speed through the city now in a taxi, though, she excitedly points out her primary school, her nana's home, the council house she shared with her mum... until today. After our meal, she will be moving into her first apartment on Canal Street, Manchester's "gay village", where she'll throw her first-ever birthday celebrations with the chosen family she created there. "Now I get to give myself the childhood fantasy, and raise myself up the way that I should have been raised."

At first, Finney wasn't aware of any labels categorising gender or sexuality. She just knew she wanted to wear the Topshop coat all the cool girls had. As an eight-year-old, she ran around the house in a pink tutu her nana gave her. "She saw me from a young age," she says, smiling. "I would search up 'femininity' and Why do I feel like a girl?" she recollects, pausing to pick at peri-peri chips on a restaurant terrace. "I remember searching, 'Why do I have a penis?'" At a recent picture of Finney in the ocean, her mother almost cried, remembering how she hated to swim as a child. "You just never wanted to get changed with the boys," she repeats. "Now it all makes sense."

At school, she'd change alone in disabled toilets (towel-whipped the times she braved the boys) until one day, the girls snuck Finney into the changing room for PE. "They loved it. For them, I was their gay accessory," she recalls. "They loved me because I was overcompensating. I was overly feminine. I was making them laugh." But, when word got to the headteacher, "It all went tits up." On the brink of expulsion, her family asked, where could she get changed? Eventually, unisex toilets were installed. Yaz happily used what unofficially became "the girl's side".

Experimenting with make-up by year 11, her GCSEs marked a turning point. Late to arrive, she walked in wearing a skirt. Steps echoed through the silent room as all eyes followed her to her seat. The football players who would trip her up and shove her in hallways, call her names and do limp-wristed impressions were "gooped, gagged and everything in-between" she recounts. "From that moment, I felt so empowered. I never looked back."

Finney is bouncy and dramatic, comfortable taking the lead and prone to slip into the accented dialect of queer Americana. She's perhaps most visibly alive recalling praise. Rather than pure ego (although, justifiably, there is a little gloating) there's a sense it provides an amour she had to go without as a vulnerable child. "All the people that doubted me, they've got nothing on me anymore, you know? Not that I did it for them," she says of stepping into the spotlight. "But it's like the cherry on top," she smiles. "| just like to know that people are realising that everything I did from a young age, I wasn't in the wrong. Everything I did was perfectly fine." /end ID]

[frary-us]

"Louise Doughty’s psychological thrillers take a dim view of men. Remember that smouldering weirdo in Apple Tree Yard who fantasises he’s a spy? His was at least an exotic pathology. In Platform 7 (ITVX) men go in for more standard brutalities – coercive control, child abuse. The twist is that its female protagonist, who is a victim of one such man, haunts the story as a spectral presence.

When we meet Lisa (Jasmine Jobson) she’s wandering a station late at night in her pyjamas. It emerges, after she witnesses the suicide of an elderly man (Phil Davis), that no one replies when she speaks. She is a ghost, trapped at the scene of her own death, also seemingly from suicide. But an anniversary visit from her grieving parents and her long-faced boyfriend, Matt (Toby Regbo), somehow frees her to bypass the ticket barrier, and re-enter the world of her past life.

Over four episodes the circumstances of her death are revisited both by a wandering Lisa and by a dogged young transport policeman (Yaamin Chowdhury). That a ghost can comment on scenes but not participate in them is an impediment that the first two episodes of Paula Milne’s adaptation don’t wholly overcome. It’s a liberating relief when the strong third episode flashes back to the past to trace what really happened in Lisa’s relationship with her seemingly perfect doctor boyfriend.

Jobson, who was so commanding in Top Boy, does what she can as an unanswered onlooker, but it must have felt like acting with one arm tied behind her back. The only person who talks to her is Davis, whose subplot feels bolted on. She has much more to sink her teeth into once the plot permits interaction. The same goes for Regbo as her dissembling tormentor.

While there is a gratifying comeuppance enfolding much supernatural japery, the script is at its most powerful when it ditches the paranormal and portrays the way coercive controllers slink their tendrils around even confident young women like Lisa. It’s less curious about what might engender such behaviour. Parental neglect is briefly mentioned, but as an explanation it has no more substance than a ghost."

[movienation]

Movie Preview: "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes"

This prequel is about the punative birth of The Hunger Games, and the last gasp of humanity of the infamous Snow who aged into Donald Sutherland decades later. Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Jason Schwartzman join the Young and Beautiful leads — tormentors and victims. Interesting city/rural dynamic being set up here, adding more persecution complex and moral grievance to the…

[cinema-tv-etc]

Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (song)

"Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is a popular song with music by Frank De Vol and lyrics by Mack David, introduced in the 1964 film Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte starring Bette Davis. The song's title appears with varying punctuation in its different versions: this article indicates how each specific version styled the title.

Originally, the film and the song did not share a title, the working title of the film being What Ever Happened to Cousin Charlotte? Reportedly, Bette Davis disliked the working title feeling it falsely indicated a sequel to What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and, the song with the opening lyric "Hush, hush, sweet Charlotte" having been written early in the film's development and having been played for Davis, she suggested Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte should serve as the movie's title.[1]

In the storyline of the film, the song is written for Davis' character: the aging Southern belle Charlotte Hollis, by her would-be lover John Mayhew whose murder thirty-seven years ago is generally ascribed to Charlotte. The song also effectively functions as the film's theme as its lyrics in effect reference how Charlotte will obsess over her lost love throughout most of her life. The song's melody plays on a music box which Charlotte treasures, and is also a feature of the gaslighting to which Charlotte's subjected, as she hears the song played on the harpsichord while she tries to sleep. Davis as Charlotte is also seen playing the song on the harpsichord and singing the most lyrically complete version of the song heard in the film, the Al Martino recording of the song only being heard for one chorus under the film's closing credits. The "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" song is heard in full as an instrumental - by the Frank DeVol Orchestra - under the film's opening credits, just prior to which a group of juvenile tormentors sing a debased version of the chorus, referencing Charlotte's supposed murder of John Mayhew.

The Al Martino rendition of "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was relegated to the B-side of his January 1965 single release "My Heart Would Know" which reached #52 on the Billboard Hot 100: "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" would be featured on Martino's Somebody is Taking My Place album. When the song earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, Bette Davis herself reportedly was hoping to perform it:[2] however Patti Page performed "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" on the April 5, 1965 37th Academy Awards broadcast, Page singing the song from the perspective of a third-party reassuring Charlotte that she [i.e. Charlotte] has John's constant devotion: Page had recorded the song in a February 17, 1965 session at Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville.

Despite the song's being bested for the Academy Award by "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from Mary Poppins, a recording of Page's rendition of "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was rush-released to become the singer's first Top 40 hit on Columbia Records as of the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated May 22, 1965; rising as high as #8 on the Hot 100 dated June 26, 1965, "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" ranked as Page's first Top Twenty hit since 1958 and earned her a fifteenth and final Gold record for sales of one million units. The track also reached number two on the Easy Listening chart.[3] Page's producer Bob Johnston so impressed Columbia Records by facilitating Page's scoring a major hit that Johnston was given the plum assignment of producing the Highway 61 Revisited album by Bob Dylan. Page would not subsequently place a single in the Top 40.

"Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" served as the title cut for Page's May 1965 album release which consisted of songs with a folk song influence.

Lyricist Mack David produced a recording of "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" by Hoyt Axton while a cover version of "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was cut by Bruce Forsyth to compete with the June 1965 UK release of the Patti Page single: neither the Forsyth single - which featured the Mike Sammes Singers - nor that by Page reached the UK charts. Richard Chamberlain's rendition of "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" appeared on his September 1965 album release Joy in the Morning which consisted of songs from films or stage musicals: "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" also was featured on the 1965 album Chris Connor Sings Gentle Bossa Nova. The Bette Davis version of "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" was first released on the 1976 album Miss Bette Davis.

The instrumental version of the movie's theme - as "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte" - was featured on the 1965 album release Theme From Peyton Place And 11 Other Great Themes by the Frank DeVol Orchestra and was issued as the B-side of that album's single "Theme from Peyton Place". Saxophone virtuoso Gerry Mulligan also recorded an instrumental version of "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" for his 1965 album If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em which consisted of songs which had recently been mainstream pop hits.[4]

The song was also recorded in 1965 by Eija Merilä (fi) as "Tuuli Kuiskaa Sen" Finnish and by Birthe Wilke as "Sov Sød Charlotte" Danish.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush,_Hush,_Sweet_Charlotte_(song)

[allthingsdarkanddirty]

THE LOVE OF MY NEXT LIFE by Brit Benson is LIVE!

#1ClickHere

US https://amzn.to/3zrCnbN

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7B2G4TD

CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B7B2G4TD

AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0B7B2G4TD

Available in KU

I calmed his demons.

He created mine.

Macon Davis.

My best friend’s brother.

My tormentor.

My least favorite person.

Pothead. Delinquent.

A careless, directionless loser.

That’s what I used to believe,

but I didn’t really know him.

And when I finally saw him,

it was the best and worst thing to ever happen to me.

We burned hot and fast.

Passion. Anger. Love. Pain.

We were reckless. Naive.

We were doomed from the start.

When I finally saw Macon Davis for who he was,

We both went down in the flames.

***

The Love of My Next Life is part one of a duet.

It is just as much a love story as it is a tale of ruin.

While the duet will end with an HEA, book one does not.

Book two is set to release in October 2022.

#newrelease #needtoreaditnow #readyourheartout #wildfiremarketingsolutions

[ekac5524sem22022]

updates on sound work: 

sound clips used mainly from “duck amuck” , sack of woe (live) by cannonball adderley, ltd by dexter gordon, various cartoon sound effects (flinstones feet scrambling sound etc), hot sonate by erwin schulhoff, looney tunes opening theme song. 

Duck Amuck (text taken from Jane Batkin’s article)

One of the most important and, arguably, cultural films to emerge from Looney Tunes is Duck Amuck (Jones, 1953). It has been viewed as both ‘a parable of modern man’s powerless alienation from his environment and a hilarious “Merrie Melodie”’ (Schneider, 1994, p. 112). It remains Warner Bros.’ most critically acclaimed animation, with Louis Black calling it “a clinical study of deconstruction of a text” (Pilling, 1997, p. 210) and Alex Evans comparing it to the work of Samuel Beckett (2007, p. 378).

Daffy was created to be the antithesis of the rabbit; he is a “social misfit” claims Sandler (1998, p. 171). Jones’ duck is an outsider, “struggling to enter the mainstream” yet resisting it, (Schneider, 1994, p. 158). If we return briefly to Adorno and Horkheimer’s theory of the free spirit of man being in jeopardy within culture, we can see how Daffy, too, is quite literally subject to forces beyond his control. In Duck Amuck, Daffy is aware and yet not, his control is a fabrication, he is tormented by an off screen presence and his all American freedom is compromised as the cel collapses in upon him, restraining him. Looney Tunes speak directly to the audience about freedom and its jeopardy; they become siphons of culture.

Within Duck Amuck, Daffy adheres to the rules of the art form, living and breathing within the cel. It soon becomes apparent however that the cel is untrustworthy, leading Daffy to ask the audience “alright, where am I?” (Jones, 1953).

Alex Evans claims that Duck Amuck is seminal through its exploration of the body, and its transfiguration. He suggests that presence and absence make the cartoon comparable with Waiting for Godot. Will the tormentor be revealed? How does absolute absence inform the work? Evans suggests that absence “represents a considerable departure from the history of animation/live action interactions” (Evans, 2007, p. 380). Previously, animated characters and real actors shared screen time in the work of Warner Bros. and Disney, as well as Trick films such as J. Stuart Blackton’s early cinema, in which the artist is clearly present, drawing the drawing. When Bugs is revealed at the climax of Duck Amuck as the artist, this is anything but reassuring, says Evans; the “responsible” figure is a toon (ibid).

The breaking of the fourth wall is significant in Duck Amuck; the traditional method of the audience eavesdropping on characters who function within the three walls of their environment, the fourth wall being the transparent one, is commonly broken in the Looney Tunes filmography. Auter and Davis conducted research that points to a heightened sense of audience enjoyment when the fourth wall is broken (1991, pp. 165­171). The inspiration for this can be seen as originating in Vaudeville. Klein interviewed a man who remembered the vaudeville acts and how accessible they were to the audience and Klein notes the importance of Vaudeville to cinema, with both appearing on the same bill at many theatres. He cites Jones’s One Froggy Evening (1957) as a clear example of this and Jones agrees that his frog was “a little vaudevillian” (Klein, 1993, p. 21).

Auter and Davis suggest that viewers feel an increased interest and become involved in the action; they move from passive to active participants as Looney Tunes characters draw them in and whisper asides to them, usually at the expense of the other protagonists (1991, pp.165­171). Bugs does this repeatedly, at Daffy’s or Elmer’s expense. In Hare Remover (Tashlin, 1946), he remarks to the audience “what do ya know! This stuff works!”, whilst in Rabbit Punch (Jones, 1948) he escapes the boxing ring after 110 rounds with a formidable opponent, and apologises for the film breaking to the audience, before holding up a pair of scissors and quipping “confidentially, that film didn’t exactly break.” In essence, the reimagining of the fourth wall in Looney Tunes cartoons creates a connection and simultaneously a deconstruction of the text.

Pilling observes that the entrance of the creator into the film (in the case of Duck Amuck, Bugs as artist into Daffy’s world), creates an incarnation or “incartoonation” and that this transforms the world of the cartoon, introducing a “magical ontological concreteness” that gives the character a reality (Pilling, 1997, p. 212). Animation becomes limitless within Duck Amuck in particular, through the cartoon’s ability to dissect itself and allow characters to step into and out of the frame. Bugs lives beyond the confines of the cartoon and its scenery, whilst Daffy is tortured within it. Self­awareness is revolutionary here, the medium of animation becomes transformative whilst still retaining its essential anarchic core.

[lucindarobinsonvevo]

@it-is-bugs TDBM Drabble Challenge: A Stranger Comes to Town Title: Night Time, My Time Words: 300

“What did that tree ever do to you?” Matthew whipped around from where he was stabbing tree-Macavoy with a penknife to see a man atop the climbing frame behind him. Relieved to see it wasn’t his father quickly dissipated when he realized that even though it was the dead of winter, the man was only wearing a thin, short sleeved shirt and tan pants.

“Who the Hell are you?!” He demanded. The man gracefully jumped from the climbing frame to the ground, landing just in front of him. “Charlie.” “And what are you doing here, Charlie?” He asked, hand grappling with his knife, just in case. “Aren’t you cold?” “Getting something to eat.” Charlie said, without hesitation, before looking down at his bare feet. “Guess I forgot.”

Now he was closer, Matthew noticed that his shave was choppy, and his hair unwashed, though neatly parted. He also smelt like the mourge over at the hospital where they took his grandfather. He didn’t look familiar and Matthew knew everyone (who went to Church, that is).

“How long have you been in town for?” “Not long.” Matthew squinted at him, “What do you do for a living? How old are you anyway?” He certainly didn’t look employed. “I used to be a policeman. Hope to be one again someday. Twenty eight. More or less.” Matthew had toyed with the idea of policing, Vera be damned. “More or less? You don’t know your birthday?” Charlie finally broke eye contact and looked away, scratching his face with blood crusted nails. He was embarrassed. “Guess I forgot that too.” He passed Matthew, and pulled his knife out of the tree with a flick of his thin, waxpaper coloured wrist and offered him. “We can’t be friends, just so you know.” “Why?” “That’s just the way it has to be. Good luck with your tree.” Matthew watched as he passed into the street, seemingly melting into the shadows as he went.

[christinaroseandrews]

The Davies and Montgomerys have been feuding for centuries; it's even said that their families were the inspiration for Shakespeare's Capulets and Montagues. It's a history that Madeline Montgomery knows well. Ever since she was a child, Gryffud Davies has been pulling her hair and stealing her shawl. It doesn't surprise her at all to learn that her childhood tormentor has turned into a roguish rake. A rake whose magnetism draws her as surely as the moon draws the tides.

Exiled from London for participating in a duel, the newly-minted Earl of Powys is looking forward to resuming one of his favorite activities -- baiting Madeline Mongomery. But his Maddy has grown into a self-possessed woman in the years he's been gone and he can't help his attraction to her.

When a single misstep leaves them reliant on each other, will two enemies put down their swords and fall into each other's arms?

Kate Bateman is fast becoming one of my go-to authors. This book is utterly charming and fun, and my cheeks hurt from all of the smiling I did while reading it.

This is a wonderful enemies-to-lovers tale with a hint of childhood rivals mixed with the Mummy thrown in. I mean, Gryff would make an excellent Rick and Maddie is a pretty awesome Evie. There's tension and bickering but also mutual respect and gentleness. I absolutely adored that Maddie had been previously struck by lightning and that Gryff was a big ol' softie under his gruff and roguish exterior. There's some really lovely banter and the character voices are so funny and engaging.

The feuding families plot was well done and was very clearly based on the Hatfields and McCoys from the Appalachian region.  Even the feud's beginnings are similar. ^_^ The secondary plot about the Montgomerys' diminished fortunes added to the tension and created an undercurrent of desperation in some of what Maddie did while their familys’ ongoing feud meant that she had to keep it hidden so the Davies' couldn't capitalize on her family's misfortunes.

My one quibble is that very late in the book there's a brief scene from someone else's head that I don't feel is necessary for the plot of THIS book. It's cute, but I feel like it should be part of a different book. But it didn't lessen my enjoyment too much.

In all, this is a great start of a series and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Four and Half Stars rounded up to Five Stars

If this is your jam, you can get it here.

If you like these kind of honest reviews, please consider supporting us here!

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley

[huntershowl]

@gloriousxdarkness​ said:

[ FIND ]  for sender to rescue receiver after they’ve been tortured. 

injury memes ( accepting )

IN ALL OF HER TIME haunting the streets of new york as a killer, hellhound never anticipated the lengths to which some would go to stop the beast picking off their friends. not when there were other problems at hand. much bigger, flashier problems.  then again, it was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? on the hunt, hellhound is a creature of rage and pain, deafened by war drums and blinded by red. you hear the howl, you stay inside, because once she’s on the trail, she will tear apart anyone in her way to follow it. this time, it was too perfect. it had been too long since she’d hunted, she rushed the investigation, and she paid for it with twenty armed men and a blow to the back of the head. upon awakening, twenty shrunk to one: julian davis, the brother of her last victim three months ago. the brother who kept his abuse quiet. figures, she thought upon seeing it was him. the bastard wanted to know a lot of things. who was she working for? why did she kill glenn? what was her game? was he supposed to be next? his feverish interrogation was met with silence, so he resorted to other methods.  another thing she couldn’t have anticipated was the rescuer that came for her in the night. hellhound had been conditioned to survive torture without breaking; she didn’t crack, not once, even as the sun slipped below the horizon and back up again before her infuriated tormentor ( military, it turns out, a veteran with a mean streak ) finally stormed off to catch a few hours of sleep. what do you do when you’ve caught a mythicized beast, after all, but keep it?  hellhound, for her part, hasn’t been present for hours. it was part of the conditioning, though she truly learned it in a now-burned mansion five years ago. you just... leave. your body endures, and your mind finds itself elsewhere, a better and quieter place.

“tell me we’ll never be tired of it,” aya murmured in persephone’s ear, sunlight bathing her skin in a divine glow. “this fragile thing.”

she doesn’t come back to full awareness until almost an hour after he leaves. adrenaline has long given way to nerves firing on all cylinders. every movement is a new bonfire lit within her body, skin on fire from the cigarette burns, skin mottled with bruising, a knife still embedded in her abdomen causing hellhound to gasp when she tries to shift. only moments later does she notice that there’s a silhouette in the window. it slinks through a crack he opened to let in air, drops to the floor with the gentlest thud. she can’t help it: everything about the situation screams more danger. even though the hound is physically useless, it doesn’t stop her from baring her teeth at the intruder – until her face catches a thin beam of dawnlight. 

❝ the fuck? natchios? ❞

[gloves94]

To Be So Lonely [Draco Malfoy] 10

Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Draco Malfoy/OC Chapter warnings: Fluff! Angst!

Raised as an orphan, Nel Saintday, endured years of torture from the Slytherin House. The Dark Lord only allowed her existence for her to serve a very specific vile purpose for him. Her birthright dictates for her to choose a side in the Wizarding War… But what would happen if she dares defy the Dark Lord and his wishes? And what happens when she falls for her tormentor? Will Nel fulfill her life’s purpose? And what side will her tormentor, Draco Malfoy, choose? The light that calls to him or the darkness…

CHAPTER MASTERLIST MY MASTERLIST

"Malfoy?" Tracey said loudly.

Nel nodded her head bitterly, arms crossed over her chest as the two made way to the dinning hall for dinner.

"Draco Malfoy?" She repeated in her obnoxiously loud voice. It seemed like his name was the only word she was capable of saying because of the shock.

"Shush!" She elbowed her friend. Throwing a suspicious glance around the corridor hoping nobody else had heard.

"And why- are you doing this again?"

"Because he knows something about my past and I'm pretty sure it's true. Trust me I'd much rather write to his father personally and ask or drug him with some veritaserum but even then the potion doesn't guarantee us any answers."

The two sat down on the table and put their bags aside when Theodore came running into the Great Hall and practically slid in the seat across from them.

"You're going to Hogsmeade with MALFOY?!" He exclaimed. He seemed to be out of breath.

Nel's eyes scanned the room. "Wow, news sure does travel fast 'round here," she shook her head.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned. "Are you ill? Dying?" He reached over the table and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Just dandy," she grumbled irritated before sticking a potato into her mouth.

"How'd you know?" Tracey arched an eyebrow as she drank her pumpkin juice.

"Malfoy was bragging to the lads back at the dormitory."

Nel rolled her eyes. "Of course," She shook her head.  "Those idiots are only fascinated by me because they think I'm related to Salazar Slytherin."

Nel's bored expression fixed across the dinning hall to a very awkward interaction between Lupin and Snape. Nott and Davis blinked at each other exchanging a look.

"But you are-" They said in unison.

"Nope, I'm not," she said more in denial before getting her mouth busy and taking a huge bite out of a bread roll. Being related to Slytherin himself meant being related to You-Know-Who and that… That was not possible. It wasn't something Nel wanted to even think about it.

"But you are-" Tracey insisted. "You're a Parselmouth."

"So?" She retorted irritated. "So's Potter and he's not related to Slytherin as far as we know."

"Yeah, but You-Know-Who gave it to him." "Well maybe he did something to me to!" She snapped at her two friends. The two inched away from her exchanging a worried look. "Sorry," She lowered her head and put her utensils down after her outburst. "This… This is why I'm entertaining Malfoy. Maybe the persons who left me at the abbey, maybe they were my parents. It's a big clue." She explained.

Theodore and Tracey had no choice but to agree.

It was then that mail was delivered and her owl, Barberry, came swooping down dropping two letters in front of her. The first was from Professor Lupin, it was written in his  perfect loopy handwriting that slanted to the right.

"Ms. Saintday, Please meet me at my office after dinner. It is important. Thank you. - Professor R. Lupin."

Her friends commented on what could Lupin possibly want with her. She shrugged and regardless met the professor's eyes across the table and nodded.

The second letter was written in a familiar sharp handwriting.

"E, Front of the castle. Tomorrow. Noon. - D'

"Ooooh, how mysterious," Tracey joked reading over her shoulder. "I wonder who  D could possibly be," she said sarcastically.

Who did he think he was kidding?

She turned to seek Draco's eyes in the Great Hall and when she met them she crumbled the note up with her hand. He simply raised his eyebrows in acknowledgement. The slightest of curves on his lips.

Whatever, she left the dinning hall ready to meet Professor Lupin in his office.

Arriving at Lupin's office she was surprised to find Harry Potter there instead.

"Let me guess," She began. "Lupin cited you as well?" She said closing the door behind her. Swaggering down the steps of the DaDa office and sitting on top of a nearby trunk.

"Is it true you're going to Hogsmeade with Malfoy?" He asked bluntly.

Nel sighed and raised her head back before letting out a loud frustrated groan. Now even the Gryffindor boys new. IT wouldn't be long before Pansy found out and came to murder Nel. Best to be prepared for that.

"It's a long story," She rubbed her tired eyes. "He's holding something over me," she admitted quickly changing the topic. "Why is everyone so intrigued by the fact that we're going to Hogsmeade? It's not even a big deal," she shrugged.

How could anyone not be intrigued by the two of them going to Hogsmeade? Draco was the unofficial Prince of Slytherin and Nel was the potential sole living descendant of Salazar Slytherin. She was a hostile blood traitor, who kept everyone at arms length and was infamously known for her ill temper and distaste for the Slytherin boys. Specially for Malfoy whom she was usually clashing with on the daily.

"Maybe because you two hate each other? Everybody knows that."

He wasn't wrong.

"Thank you," he added. "For what you did in class the other day, but I can fight my own battles."

She huffed slightly yet said nothing. He shouldn't flatter himself like that. She really hadn't done it for him. Maybe it was best to let him think that.

"Do you recon we're in trouble?" She asked changing the topic. After all Lupin had caught her passing notes in class just the other day.

"No Ms. Saintday, nobody's in trouble. Which considering your reputation, you might find quite surprising," he smiled at her as he opened the door. She turned away from him and made a disgruntled noise in the back of her throat.

"You're probably wondering why I've gathered you two here tonight. I know it's a Friday, so I won't hold you here long," Lupin began making his way across the office. "Do you remember the lesson we had on Boggarts?" He said to the two.

Both students nodded. How could they forget? It was an awesome class. It was the most fun they had ever had in any class.

"Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears the most. That is what makes them so terrifying," he explained.

"Professor, we already know this," Saintday interrupted with an irate look on her face. Could he just get to the point already?

"Patience Ms. Saintday," Lupin paused at the interruption. "I'm afraid you didn't get a chance at the Boggart that day, perhaps you'd like to give it a shot now?"

Nel thought of her worst fears. She eyed a trunk across the room which was violently shaking. Whatever was being kept inside desperately trying to escape. "I think I'll pass," she mumbled.

"The two of you are here since you are particularly susceptible to Dementors all things being considered, Dementors force us to relieve the worst memories of our lives. Our pain becomes their power. Which is why the two of you fainted on the train," Harry turned to look at the teen in surprised. Nel almost looked wounded by Lupin's words. She looked away from both, lowering her eyes.

Her background wasn't something she particularly enjoyed talking about.

"This is very advanced magic. Well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level," Lupin stated clearly eyeing both of the students carefully.

Why did Lupin want them both to learn how to fight Dementors? Certainly every student was in danger of Sirius Black and of the Dementors that were pursuing them, but why them two specifically? Nel understood his reasoning for brining Harry in, but her? Why would either Sirius Black or Dementors want anything to do with her? "Very well, the spell I am going to teach you is called the Patronus Charm. Ever heard of it?" He said to both.

Harry shook his head no. Nel nodded yes. Lupin extended his hand for her to elaborate. "The Patronus Charm is a spell which main but not only use id the primary protection again Dementors and other dark creatures for which there is no defense. There are two types of Patronuses. Corporal and Incorporeal." "Excellent Ms. Saintday, 10 points Slytherin. Any 6th years amongst your clients?" Lupin teased.

She shot him a look at him butting into her personal business and he chuckled a little at her hostility.

"But that's not quite it. A Patronus is a kind of positive force. For the witch or wizard who can conjure one, the Patronus works  something like a shield.  The Dementor feeds on it instead of him," Lupin paused as the trunk across the room rattled violently. "But in order for it to work, you must think of a memory. And not just any. This memory needs to be a very happy one. And powerful." His honey eyes darted between the two students before him.

"Think of your happiest memory and come back tomorrow after lunch. We'll begin then."

With that Lupin dismissed them.

"Know what your happiest memory is?" Harry asked as the two returned to their individual house dormitories.

"Yeah," She lied.

She had no idea.

Xxxxx

Nel didn't get much sleep last night. She had spent all night wondering just what her happiest memory was. She hated coming to the realization she didn't have one… At least not a strong one that would ward away a dementor.

All happy memories at Wool's were tainted with the memory of Lucy which in turn made them painful for her. And at Hogwarts… Sure maybe there was the memory of the day she visited Diagon Alley for the first time. Maybe even when she became friends with Tracey and Theodore, and just overall their general shenanigans.

There was one unique memory that was different from the others. It probably wouldn't be enough, but so far it was the best she had.

Xxxxx

It was Christmas even last year, 1992.

Nel had spent the evening celebrating with Harry, Hermione, Ron and his family. They had been nice enough to include her considering both her and Harry always stayed back during the winter break.

The group had been playing with sparklers and throwing snowballs at each other in the courtyard after an early. Overall it had been a fun evening. It was late when they decided to return to the Gryffindor common room, a place where she wasn't allowed. She suspected the party would go on there, but for now she was simply happy to not have been alone.

"Black Mamba," She spoke to the password which allowed her in. It was late, almost midnight by the time she got back. Walking into the emerald and black common room she was surprised to see Malfoy sitting by himself on one of the leather sofas.

It seemed like this holiday the only Slytherins that stayed behind were her, Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

She thought it was odd that he had stayed behind. Yet she didn't question it simply not caring enough but looking at him he looked absolutely miserable. She approached him partly to get a better look at him.

He was hunched over with his head buried in his hands. Hearing her footsteps, he looked up and glared at her.

"Lost something Slugbreath?" He insulted defensively.

She kept her curious eyes on his. His face was swollen and tinted with red. Had he been crying? It was probably the first time he was away from home and alone for Christmas. She wouldn't have been surprised if the brat had really been crying.

"Are you okay?" She ignored the insult.

He looked at her surprised, taken aback by the question. Part of him was expecting her to take it back and boldly mock him.

"What do you care anyways?" He snapped kicking the low table in front of him.

He was most definitely not okay.

"Come," She said to him.

She was so used to his harsh tone and language she simply hummed, shoving her hands in her pockets before walking away back to the entrance of the common room.

He paused not moving an inch. He wasn't certain if she had really been speaking to him or not, but who else could she have meant? His father had asked him to remain at Hogwarts stating home wasn't safe due to the raids the Ministry of Magic was performing. Lucius also had to keep a trustful eye at Hogwarts now that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. "Are you coming or not?" She called over her shoulder.

Thinking himself crazy Draco decided to follow her out of the room. Nel lead her down the dungeon's corridor and took several turns in the darkness before stopping before a small door. The door was big enough for a small person to walk through.

"Where are you taking me?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow still wearing an air of superiority around her. "This is where I'm hiding your body…" She said mysteriously.

He gave a step back, certainly not doubting this. "Just kidding!" She laughed before opening it and walking through.

The two entered the kitchen where long tables resembling the Great Hall stretched from one end to the other. Shelves and large pantries were stacked with food and other ingredients against the wall. And just around the door were dozens of small cots with tiny people sleeping on them. But wait- they weren't people, they were house elves.

"You've brought me to the servant's quarters?" Malfoy said wrinkling his nose in disgust. His eyes looked around the room pretentiously as if he had walked into a dumb instead of a kitchen. Nel doubted the boy had ever been inside of a kitchen.  

"Shh!!!" She hissed him as a sleeping elf nearby stirred in his sleep. She tilted her head forward and the two advanced further into the kitchen.

She moved around the kitchen with expertise knowing were the bread and all other ingredients were located. Draco watched carefully as she prepared two sandwiches with the most peculiar ingredients turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and- "Do you like cranberry sauce?" She stopped and whispered to him. He simply shrugged indifferent to it.

He wasn't watching out of intrigued. He was worried that she would attempt to poison him.

The two left the kitchen as quietly and as quickly as they got there. He now followed her upstairs. She held both of the large sandwiches which she had wrapped in paper in her hands.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked as they stood outside the Great Hall. By now he seemed to have forgotten about whatever had been bothering him earlier.

She shrugged carelessly, almost like he had when she had asked him if he liked cranberry sauce or not.

"Why not? It's Christmas Eve, good deeds count extra tonight. And let's be real, I've been pretty bad this year," She smiled a little. "I've got a lot of self-redemption to do." She was lying and he wasn't biting. She knew what it was like to be alone, specially during Christmas. She knew how painful it could be to be so lonely. "I don't need your pity," he narrowed his eyes in mistrust. "Fine," She shrugged again and handed him his sandwich with eyes filled with contempt. "Have it your way." She said before turning away and back in the direction of the Slytherin dormitories.

"No, wait-" He reached for her arm holding her back. The thought of being alone on Christmas was haunting to him. He felt lonely and Crabbe and Goyle weren't always the best company to keep around. Maybe she was being sincere. It was a risk he'd have to take.

Nel opened the door to the Great Hall and stepped in, he followed and marbled at the decorations. In the absolute darkness of the night the massive tree at the end seemed to be glowing with hundreds of golden lights. The night sky was still enchanted to make it seem as if snow was falling down. Yet the stars were still visible above. "Pretty. Isn't it?"

Without another word Nel took a seat on top of a dining table and unwrapped her sandwich. After a long day of throwing snowballs this was just what the doctor had ordered. He did the same neither saying much. He eyed his sandwich oddly, it actually looked disgusting.

"I'm a terrible cook," She said in between bites. "But I make the best sandwiches," she stated awfully proud of her monstrous creation.

He took a bite out of it hesitantly. He'd never had anything like it.

"This is actually not bad," he said thoughtfully.

"Thanks, it's a leftover sandwich. Leftovers of anything Crabbe and Goyle didn't finish anyways." Both shared a laugh.

Draco's mind still twisted over her reasons for doing this. Nel wasn't the type to believe in any redemptions. At least not from what he'd learned about her in the past two years. She was more stubborn than anyone he knew, wasn't the kind of person to change her mind about things just like that. She must've seen something in him that seemed personal to her.

"I'll never get tired of looking at this tree," She said interrupting his train of thought. "Back at Wool's we get a small one every year. Skinny pitiful thing, with almost no branches. It always tilts to the sides due to the tacky pink ornaments that Wool uses."

"Wool's?" He asked confused.

He noted that her ears turned red from over sharing and she took a large bite out of her sandwich stuffing her mouth so she wouldn't speak any more. He gathered that was probably the orphanage where she lived.

"Hey, you better not get any funny ideas Saintday," he spoke in that snappy bitter tone he was known for. She looked at him oddly yet thankful he hadn't further pressed about her slip. "This doesn't mean that we're friends got it?" His eyes were glued to the massive tree at the center of the Great Hall. She couldn't help but smile a little at this, "Wouldn't dream of it Malfoy."

The next morning Nel was surprised to actually find some gifts underneath her tree. It was nothing grand of fancy, regardless she was touched by the gestures. Theodore had gotten her some ink and parchment for the year, something that would be most useful to her in her business affairs. A Quidditch poster from Tracey which she suspected was a gift for her and not for Nel. Regardless she hung it up between their beds to make her friend happy.

She'd knitted some gloves for the two of them. They weren't perfect but she was hoping they'd do just the trick in keeping them warm for the rest of the winter.

She had agreed to meet the Gryffindors for breakfast. Exiting the common room, she was surprised to see Malfoy standing in the common room.

"There you are," he said with his arms crossed over his chest. There seemed to be an annoyed look on his face.

She flashed him a confused look. Had he been waiting for her? Were they actually friends now?

"Crabbe and Goyle left for breakfast already," He uttered as if explaining why he was there standing alone. "They found this outside in the corridor. It has your name on it," he signaled to a large box that had been placed on the low table. She eyed the box carefully. The gift-wrapping paper was wrapped with precision and bore a rich checkered emerald and black diamond pattern that was tied together by a thick black ribbon. There was a square tag at the top that had Nel Saintday scrawled on it in sharp handwriting.

She looked at the gift completely stunned.

"Thanks for holding it for me," She said awkwardly still being unable to remove her eyes from the gift. She didn't know what was inside, but she had certainly never seen maybe even touched a box that was wrapped so beautifully. "I'll take it back to my room-"

"No-," He said rather quickly. She arched an eyebrow at his odd behaviors. "Open it here," he pulled out his wand. "It could be cursed."

She let out a small laugh. Yeah right. As if somebody would try and curse her. She wasn't Harry Potter of anyone important. However, one could never be too safe. Maybe the Weasley twins had send it to her- or maybe it had been Harry, but she doubted that they would get her something this nice.

"I guess you're right," She said dropping her knees on the carpet and slowly undoing the ribbon and wrapping with care. She didn't want to ruin it. She also wasn't sure if she should keep the wrapping or not.

There was obviously a black box inside. Hesitantly she reached for it and removed it from the table. Curious to what was inside. Wincing and preparing for the worst she opened it. However, nothing happened. No harm was done. Inside was a piece of clothing wrapped in more paper. More layers? Again, she undid it carefully and pulled out a black jumper. It was probably the softest fabric she had ever touched. It almost felt unreal or like how'd she would imagine touching a cloud would feel like.

"This is..."  She gasped feeling the texture in between her fingertips.

"It's made from Vicuña, the world's softest fabric. Way better than cashmere," Malfoy said smugly peering over her shoulder. "You can tell?" She marveled at his ability to be able to tell just with his sight.

"It doesn't say who it's from," She said looking under the many wrappings.

"Do you like it?" Malfoy asked in an uninterested tone.

"Do I like it?" She repeated her voice almost breaking. "I've never had anything half as decent as this in my life," she hugged it close to her chest. "I almost feel like it'll melt in my arms," she laughed weakly. "Look! Touch it!" She said moving the fabric close to him beaming. He raised his hand and denied it with a bored look on his features. "I'm almost afraid to wear it. What if I ruin it?" She rambled anxiously as her mind wondered to who would’ve taken the time to get her such a thoughtful gift. She was more than touched. She was elated. She could’ve cried at the gesture if the boy hadn’t been there. It was the first time that she had something that was hers and truly hers alone. It hadn’t been owned by anyone before, it didn’t have any signs of tear or wear. It was hers. It might as well have been made out of cotton or wool and she would’ve been just as moved by the gesture.

Draco had just in time snatched the card that had her name written on it. He hadn't noticed that the back of it read 'For Draco, Love Mum. Happy Xmas'

That had been a close one.

"Who do you think sent it?" She wondered out loud. "Do you think it was Professor Snape?"

He fought the urge to roll his eyes at her reasoning. Snape? Really?

"Does it matter?" He said irritated.

"I just want to thank them. Maybe give them something nice?" She said concerned before turning her attention back to the box. "It has to be someone that I know… Obviously!"

Malfoy wasn't going to be much help, but maybe Fred and George could help her figure it out. Draco glanced around the room nervously. What would she do if she knew it had been him?

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't even realize she was on her way out of the Common Room sweater I hand.

"I best be off. See you around. Happy Christmas!" She called over her shoulder with a broad smile before exiting the room.

She didn't hear but the boy stood there alone.

"Happy Christmas…" he said more to himself.

[romancereadingdiva]

Bully Me Anthology Live Now!

Bully Me, an all new anthology featuring stories from eight bestselling authors is NOW AVAILABLE! All proceeds will go toward helping to support victims of bullying through one of the largest anti-bullying organizations in the world @ditchthelabel​

Blurb:

Loving your tormentor isn’t easy, especially when they collect broken hearts and parade them around like trophies. They’re the bad boys, the alpha a**holes, and the thorns in our sides. They push us past our limits, turn us on, and break us.

They’re our bullies.

They’re the class of 2020.

Eight bestselling authors are teaming up to bring you eight unique stories about the guys we love to hate.

This anthology benefits one of the largest anti-bullying organizations in the world, and all proceeds will go toward helping to support victims of bullying.

Shantel Tessier

Callie Hart

CoraLee June

Siobhan Davis

Kaydence Snow

K Webster

C.M. Stunich

Sam Mariano

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[lettersandinkstains]

WIP || ℑ𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔯 ↬previously known as Pandemonium 》Book Cover Feature: Bailee Davis Genre: Young Adult, Deconstruction of the Chosen One, Urban/Dark Fantasy Trigger Warnings: Mentions of child abuse and neglect, mental illness (depression, anxiety, etc), swearing, kids/teenagers forced to grow up, corruption, minor psychological horror, dickish gods, suicide ideation at times.

Bailee Profile:

Age || 16 Likes: Music, art, hikes, sleeping, her pet rabbit, her girlfriend Dislikes: Height jokes, loud noises, the Covens, her cousin Personality Traits: ✴ Extroverted X Tempermental ✴ Honest X Secretive ✴ Methodical X Melancholic About: A somewhat lost young lady, she isn’t sure which direction her life is headed and at the moment, she doesn’t care too much. Her biggest wish is to be normal, to throw away all ties she has towards the Covens and live a normal life--considering how she was born without the ability to use magic, which is why her life was absolute hell as a child.

She is hot headed, and the things that can set her off are usually threats towards her girlfriend, Lucija, and her twin brother, Isaac. Nobody else, to her, matters as much.

Her childhood is shrouded in pain, and she would rather forget even though she is the spitting image of her tormentor, her mother. When her childhood home went up in flames on the eve of her 11th birthday, everything that was going on behind those doors came to light and ended up becoming an international issue--and she does not remember what had caused the fire.

But she remembers one thing:

A creature with large black wings, intense eyes, and towered over her with such grandeur and command she feared him. He called himself--

Excerpt:

It wasn’t as though she had a choice in the matter, it’s as though life had decided she wasn’t allowed any form of happiness or any form of peace. The mission she had agreed to go on, because somehow, an all powerful being was powerless, would just endager Lucija’s life, and her family’s life and she would be damned if more people got hurt because of her.

With everything neatly packed, and her room tidyed more than it usually is, Bailee bites her lower lip.

She doesn’t want to leave.

With a sigh, she climbs out through the window--she doesn’t want to disturb her slumbering little half sister who will cry in the morning, and she doesn’t want to be faced with the multiple questions of why she’s leaving, answers she cannot give, eye contact she cannot make. Lies she doesn’t want to tell.

And it’s not fair.

But it was never fair to have been born, was it?

[the-cookie-of-doom]

“B-b-b-but Derek Hale’s a failure and a shitty leader whose only purpose in the show was to be surpassed by Trash Wolf Scoot and make the audience realize what a great, competent, superior leader and better character Trash Wolf Scoot McCall is compared to him! Derek Hale got exactly what he deserved for refusing to obey Trash Wolf Scoot, really!!!!” https://princeescaluswords.tumblr.com/post/185664990955/stans-will-excuse-dereks-actions-by-portraying

russianspacegeckosexparty *whines and screeches and froths and drowns in his own bile because Teen Wolf fans and viewers have the nerve to prefer actually compelling fictional characters over his shitty idol Scott and because his shitty idol Scott is not EVERYONE’s fav*

Shitty, entitled middle aged white man & actual harasser PEW:

There are two competing impulses here in relation to the narrative. When these impulse are combined combined they form the toxic woobification also known as “Derek Deserves Nice Things.” This is the belief that Jeff Davis tortured Derek for no other reason than his and the audience’s sadistic amusement. They miss the writers’ goal: to show that in Derek’s role as a foil for Scott, he got exactly what he deserved for allowing his painful history to control him. Derek’s failures came from his inability to manage his trauma, to separate the people who hurt him from the people who didn’t.

In Season 1 and Season 2, Derek let his fear of the Argents and his shame about his actions with Kate (and Paige) influence his actions. He didn’t trust Scott; he didn’t share information freely with Scott; he relied on anger and its attendant violence to keep him safe. It didn’t work.

(It’s noticeable that when Derek let go of the past – when he started to trust Scott, when he started sharing information with Scott, when he did things like hand out Halloween candy to children – he got nice things! Derek ended Season 4 – a season which showed him being open, friendly, trusting, and complimenting and encouraging Scott – with a sexy, protective girlfriend; revenge on his tormentor, and the inheritance of his mother’s legacy!)

The first impulse was the need to make Derek more important than Scott McCall. The thought that Derek Hale was only there for Scott to learn what not to do never even occurred to them, even though the name of the show was Teen Wolf. Derek’s aggression, violence, and lies weren’t seen by them as obstacles for Scott McCall to overcome – which they were definitely intended to be by the writers. When the narrative had Scott overcoming and surpassing Derek, they were flabbergasted. Derek was a hot white man with an incredible body and a sad backstory. To viewers weaned on television culture, he should have been the lead – or if not the lead, the controlling narrative of the show. It should be Derek’s story that took precedence. But it wasn’t!

The second impulse was, of course, Sterek. There’s nothing wrong with the ship itself, as long as the viewers realized that – no matter what the MTV PR department said – it never had a chance of happening. Regardless of subjective chemistry, Derek wasn’t going to have a romantic relationship with Stiles because it would have taken too much focus off of the actual leader and star of his own show Scott McCall/Tyler Posey. It could have happened, if the show was about Stiles or Derek, but it’s not, and having a relationship between the lead’s two foils, including one closely echoing Derek’s backstory and being illegal, would have required too much focus.

Given these two impulses, the audience had to sell themselves the story that Derek Deserved Nice Things, that he was Not a Failwolf, in order to satisfy them. So that’s why they ignored the terrible things Derek did to others, especially to his own betas – seducing Erica, hurting Isaac, withholding information from all three of them – that sent two of them running for the hills and one of them running for Scott.

Cookie: Oh my god. Oh my god this is so horrible, what the fuck. 

PEW: This is the belief that Jeff Davis tortured Derek for no other reason than his and the audience’s sadistic amusement. 

!!! That is exactly what happened. Tyler has remarked on how he had to work any scraps of backstory for Derek aside from Tall Dark and Brooding like he was trying to pull teeth. Dylan said in an interview that “Have you seen him? We have to torture him, otherwise everything is too sexy for him.” Derek was only there to be abused. And that’s fine! God knows I love a good whump, and it is a popular dynamic that one of the main characters always has to be. Think Jace Wayland from The Mortal Instruments, with his tragic backstory. Or Harry Potter, spending his childhood abused at worst and neglected at best. The only difference is, those characters got a break from the abuse, they had sanctuaries to go to and people who protected them, but Derek never did*. 

*Except, of course, for Stiles, who protected Derek even when he hated him, even when he was afraid of him. I’m not even saying in a shippy way, but the only person who consistently was there to defend Derek was Stiles. Not Scott. Scott would never do anything for Derek unless he somehow got something out of it first; how about, trying to make Derek promise not to hurt Allison before being willing to free him from Kate’s torture dungeon? This even after Derek has done nothing to hurt Allison or imply he ever would, and going so far as to take her home when Scott decided going to a party was more important than learning how to werewolf, thus putting everyone, and Allison, in danger. This even after Derek has every right to hate Allison’s family, and not go out of his way to protect her. Which he absolutely did here. 

I had to scroll back up for this, but: “the toxic woobification also known as “Derek Deserves Nice Things.”

How lacking in empathy do you have to be to think that one of the main characters deserving nice things is toxic? Derek Hale DOES deserve nice things, for fucks sake he’s EARNED them after everything he’s been through. (And, not to compare trauma because that is equally toxic, but since they seem intent on doing it anyway: Derek has been through much more and much more than Scott. He, more than anyone on the show, deserves to have a goddamn break and a little sympathy.) 

I just. I can’t even touch on that last part about Derek deserving everything he got. That is so tone deaf and blind, how did PEW even manage to watch this show? Clearly he can’t see what’s right in front of him. Derek did not deserve what he got at all. Hell, NO ONE deserve the level of unending abuse Derek was put through for the sake of whump. 

“Derek let his fear of the Argents and his shame about his actions with Kate (and Paige) influence his actions. He didn’t trust Scott; he didn’t share information freely with Scott.”

Yikes. First off, as I already said, Derek had every reason to fear the Argents. They murdered his family. Derek has no way of knowing how many of them were involved; the only one who couldn’t have been was Allison, since she was a child. But Chris? Victoria? Yeah, Derek was right to fear them. And even if you take away the death of his family, the Argents are HUNTERS. They KILL WEREWOLVES, something Scott never did manage to figure out because he was too concerned with getting his dick wet. Even going so far as to side with them in the worst moment of cinematic history, before he even knew them or had reason to defend them. Allison was a pretty girl, and Derek was telling him what her family did to his, and Scott decided the Pretty Girl won over the death of Derek’s family, children included. 

As for trusting Scott? When did Scott every prove himself trustworthy? I’m sorry, but if someone looked me in the eyes and told me that maybe my family deserved to burn alive, I wouldn’t ever trust them. There is nothing they could do to earn my trust after that. But eventually Derek comes around, showing that he is in fact a better person that I am. Because I would have thrown Scott right at the Argent’s feet for that comment, and let them see just how merciful they really are. And that isn’t even touching on how Scott lied to Allison about her mother’s pack, directly resulting in her hunting down Derek and his pack, and attempting to kill two of her classmates. Conveniently, the two people Scott had claimed to care about when it was convenient for him as a way to keep Derek from building a pack. 

“The thought that Derek Hale was only there for Scott to learn what not to do never even occurred to them.” No character’s sole purpose is to be a foil. A character may be designed as a foil, but first and foremost, they are their own character. A thought that apparently never occurred to PEW. As much as he wishes it did, the show did not revolve around Scott, and neither did the characters. Because while he was the main character, he was not it’s only character. 

“Sterek. There’s nothing wrong with the ship itself, as long as the viewers realized that  – no matter what the MTV PR department said – it never had a chance of happening.”

Once again, PEW entirely misses the point. I don’t think anyone ever genuinely believed Sterek was going to be canon. We all knew better than that, we were not yet in an age where queer relationships happen on screen for anything other than comic relief like a sideshow freak; there only briefly. They weren’t going to do that with their main characters, because then they would have to get rid of them! Like when they wrote off Danny and Ethan, and kept Mason and Corey mostly out of the picture when they were together, or when they brought back Ethan and Jackson for the very end-for no reason other than exploiting Colton coming out and getting those diversity points! (Which were very much not earned, in my opinion. It was pandering at best.) 

It wasn’t the fact that Sterek was never going to be canon that made people so angry; it was the fact that Jeff kept dangling it in front of the fandom for years, once he saw how popular it was becoming. He would talk in interviews about how much he loved the Sterek dynamic, tweet about how much he supported it, and then write barely any scenes were Stiles and Derek interacted. We knew it wasn’t going to happen, and we didn’t appreciate being mocked. 

“[...] and having a relationship between the lead’s two foils, including one closely echoing Derek’s backstory and being illegal, would have required too much focus..” 

But it wasn’t too much focus when any other characters got together? No, of course not, because other relationships didn’t challenge Scott with their popularity. It’s okay not to like a ship, but don’t be so sanctimonious about it. 

Also, illegal? Cute that he brings this up as a ‘concern’ when it comes to Sterek, but where was the outrage when they started pushing for Lydia and Parish? You know, that 24 year old cop fantasizing about showering/amking out with a 17 year old girl? I think the power dynamics with that are inherently far more problematic than little old Sterek. 

“So that’s why they ignored the terrible things Derek did to others, especially to his own betas – seducing Erica, hurting Isaac, withholding information from all three of them – that sent two of them running for the hills and one of them running for Scott.”

The tag Derek Hale Is A Failwolf currently has 569 works in it. That’s a pretty good amount, considering many people don’t get into specific tags like that. I’ve never seen anyone ignore what Derek did; and on a broad level, no one is ignoring that Derek seducing Erica was kind of gross, or that hurting Isaac was wrong. Keeping information from them wasn’t the best idea either, but Derek did it from a place of trying to protect them. They were kids, and he was their alpha; he was trying to deal with the dangers like the alpha pack on his own because he didn’t want to put them in harms way. Unlike Scott who withholds information that directly puts them in harms way (see: lying to Allison about her mother). 

Derek also hurts Isaac during training. Rough? Yes. Unnecessary? Well, I would say that depends. Derek was showing Isaac what his body was capable of doing; he could heal, something he never had before. You can’t deny that gave Isaac some new perspective and a hell of a lot of confidence, no longer afraid to be hurt. 

And then you have Scott, who disgusting abuses Isaac to assert control over him. He was not trying to teach Isaac anything, he was just angry and jealous that Isaac wanted to kiss Allison, who had broken up with Scott, and made it clear that she didn’t want him waiting for her. They. Were. Not. Together. Scott had no claim to her, he wasn’t ‘defending her honor’, he was being an asshole ex. And Isaac paid the price, getting abused by his so called alpha. And what could he do in that situation? Scott was housing him; by challenging him, Isaac would be risking getting kicked out with nowhere else to go. A great situation to put an abuse survivor in. Scott had all the power and authority in their relationship, so do not try to paint Scott as the savior that welcomed him after he was banished by the big bad Derek. 

As usual, PEW is watching a very different show than the rest of us. But it does not revolve around Scott, and it never did. The characters all had their own lives and motivations. 

And, Derek Hale does in fact deserve nice things. Especially if those nice things involve a long vacation to somewhere that has no wifi, no cell reception, and no way to  be reached by a certain self-righteous teenager, with a certain human at his side.