Abuse as True Love in Paranormal Romance

There are a lot of tropes in paranormal romance that consistently raise their ugly heads - many of which we explain in our Lexicon
 

Many of these destructive tropes are often “justified” by being “explained by the woo-woo”. In other words, the fact that it is magic or some kind of preternatural creature doing these things makes it okay, not problematic or otherwise acceptable. So a possessive or stalking boyfriend is explained by being a werewolf or a vampire - therefore territorial. This has the additional problematic element of justifying or excusing the problematic behaviour - very reminiscent of the old excuse of “he can’t help it” and “it’s just his way.” or it’s the nature of whatever supernatural being that the author is discussing.

Regardless of the excuse provided by being a possessive supernatural being, or an aggressive, violent or out of control creature - we’re still looking at relationships that look very abusive and in some cases are outright abusive and they don’t become harmless just because the abuser turns furry or has fangs. Just as “I could smell your desire” sounds very much like “you want it really.” It is particularly problematic because these books are largely written by women and the books themselves are quite often targeted at a young female audience.

Stalking as love trope.
 

In the Twilight saga S. Meyer has her vampire Edward watch Bella as she sleeps. Think about that for a moment. A man enters a woman’s room without her permission and watches her. In the real world we call that a peeping tom and that normally leads to a quick trip to the local jail, and yet repeatedly this is constructed as romantic. Even Edward’s faults however are far outstripped by Adam Hauptman of the Mercedes Thompson series. Because Adam is a werewolf as is supposedly naturally protective (Read: creepy stalker dude), he installs cameras into Mercy’s garage without her permission. Of course this is only because he is worried about an unsavoury element wanting a damn oil, lube an filter but what it really comes down to is ensuring that he has the ability to monitor every single moment of her day. Patricia Briggs the author of this series, could have redeemed this by having Mercy demand that the surveillance be removed but of course if that is what the alpha werewolf wants, that’s what the alpha werewolf gets.

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Sick Day

Hey readers,

I'm not feeling well so I am going to take today to rest and recharge.  B good to each other and I will be back as soon as I can.

Enter For A Chance To Win Volume 1 and 2 of The Walking Dead Graphic Novels

Are you counting down the days until the second season of The Walking Dead starts? Last year when AMC first aired The Walking Dead, I wasn't sure that I was going to like this zombie show, but each episode drew me in as I realized that this show is about so much more than supernatural beings.  It's about how you survive when everything that you know is gone.  In fact in volume one: Days Gone Bye, the author writes:

To me, the best zombie movies aren't the splatter fests of gore and violence with goofy characters and tongue and cheek antics. Good zombie movies show us just how messed up we are, they make us question our station in society ... and out society's station in the world. They show us gore and violence and all that cool stuff too ... but there's always an element of social commentary and thoughtfulness.

With The Walking Dead, I want to explore how people deal with extreme situations and how these events change them.  I'm in this for the long haul. You guys are going to see Rick change to the point that, when you look back on this book, you won't even recognize him. I hope you guys are looking forward to a sprawling epic because that's the idea with this one.

This is why The Walking Dead sums up some of the best that urban fantasy has to offer.  It's not just about woo woo; it's about the human experience.  If like me, you have become a fan of the series, I am sure that the chance to own:

And

Is hard to pass up.  This month we are giving away volume 1: Days Gone Bye, by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moorem as well as Volume 2: Miles Behind Us, by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn of the Walking dead graphic novels. The lucky winner will receive both volumes.

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The Vampire Diaries Season Three, Episode Three: The End of the Affair

 

This episode brought the return of Katherine.  I was so hoping that narrowly escaping with her life last season, would be enough to end the characters purpose on the show.  More than anything, Katherine shows just how much Nina Dobrev needs to take acting classes; however, I suppose that as long as  Paul Wesley is playing Stefan, she will never hold the title for the worst actor on The Vampire Diaries. 

Shall we get right into it? Damon tracks Stefan down to beantown and brings Elena along for the ride.  This episode is filled with flashbacks from the roaring twenties, when Stefan was the ripper.  Not only did he kill willfully, he wrote the names down of his victims -- so that he could remember and experience the kills again.  Think of it sort of like a vampire trophy.  Damon takes Elena to Stefan's old apartment (okay, gotta say, why is this building still standing, and why is it in such good condition?) and she sees the list for herself.  Any normal person at that point would go screaming for the door. All Elena can see is a vampire in need of help to get over his little habit of draining people of their life blood.  Awww poor baby waby just needs help.  I don't for the life of me understand how she can still see him as good, when she now has evidence of exactly what kind of killer Stefan is.

In the flashback we learn that Stefan and Klaus had a friendship.  They were so close that Stefan referred to Klaus as his brother.  Stefan and Klaus were introduced by Rebecca, Klaus' sister.  It seems that over time, Stefan and Rebecca had a relationship, but when someone bursts into Stefan's bar, shooting wooden bullets, Klaus decides that it is once again time to leave town.  Before he leaves, he orders Stefan to forget about them, until he tells him to remember and this is why Stefan has no memory of his previous relationship with Klaus.  Rebecca refuses to leave without Stefan, and when Klaus tells her that she has to chose either himself or Stefan, Rebecca chooses Stefan.  Never being one to accept the word no, Klaus stabs her with knife making it impossible for her to move. She is essentially dead.  If you remember, this is what happened to Elijah last season. 

The reason Klaus brought Stefan to Chicago was to find out why he was not able to create more hybrids. Of course the answer lies in finding another witch and surprise, surprise, surprise, the witch is a woman named Gloria who used to work in the club that they hung at during the twenties. Gloria appears to not have aged a day, and this is because she is a powerful witch and is able to slow the aging process. 

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