Nenia Campbell > Quotes

“The villains were always ugly in books and movies. Necessarily so, it seemed. Because if they were attractive—if their looks matched their charm and their cunning—they wouldn't only be dangerous.

They would be irresistible.”
― Nenia Campbell, Horrorscape

“You want to be free. You also want to be mine. You can't be both.”
― Nenia Campbell, Crowned by Fire

“It wasn't that she was sad—sadness had very little to do with it, really, considering that most of the time, she felt close to nothing at all. Feeling required nerves, connections, sensory input. The only thing she felt was numb. And tired. Yes, she very frequently felt tired.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But the beast did not want to be tamed, for he was a beast and beasts care not for such things, and the girl died along with her dreams.

From childhood's grave sprang a young woman, jaded before her years, who knew that beasts could wear the skins of men, and that evil could exist in sunlight, as well as darkness.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“Happiness is such a fragile thing, isn't it? So easily burst, like a bubble blown by a child, and always on the verge of being carried away.”
― Nenia Campbell, Endgame

“We feel most alive when we are closest to death.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“I know what it is to want something that could destroy you.”
― Nenia Campbell, Endgame

“It takes many sheep to satisfy one wolf.”
― Nenia Campbell, Horrorscape

“What do you want to do with your life, then?” is often the question I'm asked.

To be honest, I don't know. I really don't.

Mainly because I don't see myself living long enough for that to make much of a difference.”
― Nenia Campbell, Tantalized

“We hunger in earnest for that which we cannot consume.”
― Nenia Campbell, Black Beast

“We always vilify what we don't understand.”
― Nenia Campbell, Horrorscape

“People only picked the pretty, sweet-smelling flowers. The ones with thorns were left alone.”
― Nenia Campbell, Fearscape

“You don't think I could bring myself to mark your lovely skin? I'll take my knife to you, if that's the case. I'll carve my name in your breast so that every beat of your heart will remind you that you are mine—and mine alone. Because blood is binding, and because I would rather see you destroyed than see you free or in the possession of another, so I suggest you not try me, or you will suffer as no earthly creature has.” He slammed her back against the wall. “Or ever will. But that is a suggestion, and one you are free to disregard at your own peril. But you are are going to answer my question.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“Not all poison was bitter. Some of the deadliest poisons in the world tasted sweet; they were that much more dangerous because of it.”
― Nenia Campbell, Fearscape

“Just remember,” he told her. “If you run from me, I will pursue.”
― Nenia Campbell, Fearscape

“He was everything your mother warned you about when she told you not to walk alone in the dark.”
― Nenia Campbell, Armed and Dangerous

“Fuck your manners."

"You don't have to settle for just my manners.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“Being a victim is supposed to set you free; it acquits you of any agency, any sense of responsibility to the person who did you harm. It's not your fault, they say. Leave him, they say. Nobody ever tells you what to do if leaving isn't an option.

They just call you stupid. A dumb bitch.

Sympathy is only meted out if you follow all of
society's rules for how a victim is supposed to behave.”
― Nenia Campbell, Cease and Desist

“Everyone needs to escape sometimes, and retreating into somebody else's fantasy isn't nearly as satisfying as slipping into your own.”
― Nenia Campbell, Endgame

“A woman isn't a whore for wanting pleasure. If it were unnatural, we would not be born with such drives.”
― Nenia Campbell, Bound to Accept

“Once a flower is picked it immediately begins to die.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“If evil had a laugh, she thought it would sound like his.”
― Nenia Campbell, Black Beast

“Too bad. Game over. Insert new fucking quarter.”
― Nenia Campbell, Cloak and Dagger

“Fairytales by nature only talk about the victors. The survivors. Nobody speaks about what happens to those who failed, except in the abstract: as cautionary tales to guide others onto the path to success. How many brave knights fell to the dragon before he was slayed by the noble prince? How many children burned to a crisp and eaten before the wicked witch received her due? These stories are lost, but the lesson behind them is not: it is not enough to be merely pure and good.”
― Nenia Campbell, Evergloom

“Nobody should have to choose between a cold heart and a dead heart.”
― Nenia Campbell, Crowned by Fire

“All statistics have outliers.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“At first you might wonder what you did to deserve such treatment. Nothing, probably, so that doesn't matter. What matters is that, eventually, the abuse becomes the status quo. It's no longer about the whats and whys (“what did I do?” “why are they doing this?”) but the whens and hows (“when are they going to do it?” “how are they going to get me?”). Persecution becomes inevitable, inescapable. And once you get into the victim mindset, you're fucked. The bullies don't even need to hurt you now; your poor, warped, pathetic brain is doing half the work for them.”
― Nenia Campbell, Freaky Freshman

“Did you think I'd only want you once? Oh, my, you are more naïve than I thought. Why would I go through so much trouble for a mere tryst? Does a man ride a stallion but one time before condemning it to the abattoir?”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“Her world fragmented into dozens of sharp, cutting shards, shedding the salty blood and saltier tears that ringed the bitter cocktail of her despair. She was caterpillar and butterfly, both, caught in a cocoon of raw nerves and open sores; she was insanity, wrapped up in the thin, transient wrappings of a temporary lucidity; and she was afraid, because an innate desire lay in the bottom reaches of her psyche for the very poison that was killing her.”
― Nenia Campbell, Terrorscape

“Some of the cruelest men in the world were born with silver tongues. They could charm a bird right out of the sky, only to break its wings. And no men, nice or cruel, offer favors lightly - not strangers. Not to young women. Not without expecting something back in return.”
― Nenia Campbell, Fearscape