Dear podcast listener, Welcome to The Ties That Bind!  If you'd like to support our work, please consider donating to our pod so we can keep going! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dearvamps  To order Black Witches and Queer Ghosts: Race, Gender, & Sexual Orientation in Teen Supernatural Serials go to https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666926750/Black-Witches-and-Queer-Ghosts-Race-Gender-and-Sexual-Orientation-in-Teen-Supernatural-Serials   For more about Deanna:  www.deannakoretsky.com Anyiwo, U. Melissa (2016). "Beautifully Broken: True Blood's Tara Thornton as the Black Best Friend." In Gender in the Vampire Narrative, edited by Amanda Hobson and U. Melissa Anyiwo. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-6300-714-6_7 Sincerely, Deanna & Brigid This episode contains conversations that touch on parental abandonment of a child, suicide, racism, and intimate partner abuse.  We want safety for you.  If you need help please consider the resources below and take care.  Suicide prevention resources: https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/resources/index.html  Info on grooming: https://www.rainn.org/news/grooming-know-warning-signs  https://www.preventingexploitationtoolkit.org.uk/home/what-is-exploitation/grooming/  https://caage.org/help-for-victims-of-adult-grooming/ https://womenagainstcrime.com/how-to-identify-grooming-and-what-to-do-if-you-see-it/  United States: https://www.thehotline.org/ “Internet usage can be monitored and is impossible to erase completely. If you’re concerned your internet usage might be monitored, call us at 800.799.SAFE (7233)” Canada: https://www.sheltersafe.ca/  https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/stop-family-violence/services.html  UK https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/  https://www.survivorsuk.org/ways-we-can-help/#section-1  -Credits- Music by Patrick Hornig Thank you to HBO Max and the CW for our source.