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Did any diehard Twilight fans ever buy the same model car as any of the Cullens' expensive cars just on pure fandom and without knowing anything about cars, and bankrupt themselves trying to keep up with maintenance costs?
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Aug 10, 2019 20:50
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evobatman posted:Did any diehard Twilight fans ever buy the same model car as any of the Cullens' expensive cars just on pure fandom and without knowing anything about cars, and bankrupt themselves trying to keep up with maintenance costs? Almost definitely! I think this is the only book after Ready Player One where I've felt serious frustration. There's all of these hints of a much more compelling story and more compelling characters, but the person who ended up writing about them was an inexperienced Mormon housewife who put out an unedited first draft and became a millionaire entirely by accident.
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Aug 10, 2019 21:14
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Chapter 24: An Impassequote:My eyes opened to a bright, white light. I was in an unfamiliar room, a white room. The wall beside me was covered in long vertical blinds; over my head, the glaring lights blinded me. I was propped up on a hard, uneven bed—a bed with rails. The pillows were flat and lumpy. There was an annoying beeping sound somewhere close by. I hoped that meant I was still alive. Death shouldn’t be this uncomfortable. Jesus, Bella! Again? quote:“No, you don’t.” And cool fingers caught my hand. You mean your dad and your mom? You can call him that, you know. He deserves it. quote:“Alice called them. Renée is here—well, here in the hospital. She’s getting something to eat right now.” I promise this excuse gets even funnier in a bit. quote:I sighed, and it hurt. I stared down at my body under the sheet, the huge lump that was my leg. This reminds me of A Handbook for Mortals where Lani Sarem did the exact same "Come up with a convenient excuse to tell everyone a mundane reason for your injuries", but in that case it was magical internal hemorrhaging so she had to go with a bizarre combination of two extremely rare diseases. quote:“That must have been a nice change for you.” Okay yeah this is definitely a fetish thing now. quote:“I’m sorry,” I apologized. He raised his eyes to the ceiling. Are you making this about yourself now? quote:“I’m sorry,” I apologized again. "I wanted to do the decapitation myself!" quote:This confused me. “I didn’t see Emmett and Jasper there.” The way Meyer writes this, it sounds like Bella is literally having images flash in her head like a movie flashback sequence. quote:“Yes.” A new sound darkened his voice, a tone of sheer hatred. The part of Bella's brain that judges danger just straight up doesn't work. quote:I rolled my eyes. I was pleased to discover that this reaction, at least, was pain-free. I decided to change the subject. Yeah, Alice just went loving Keith Moon on their hotel to help Bella's cover story. I still want a book that's just about the rest of the Cullen family. quote:I wasn’t so lost to the soreness or the fog of medication that I didn’t respond to his touch. The beeping of the monitor jumped around erratically—now he wasn’t the only one who could hear my heart misbehave. Bella that is not a normal thing to loving happen! You just had a literal heart attack! Your lifespan has likely been shortened dramatically every time you kissed him! quote:“It seems that I’m going to have to be even more careful with you than usual.” He frowned. That feeling of faintness in the woods wasn't just you being quirky! You went presyncope! quote:He grinned, and bent to press his lips lightly to mine. The monitor went wild. This book would be a lot better if they actually had a running gag where vampires pretending to be asleep are mistaken for dead because they forget to breathe and everyone panics before they suddenly and dramatically "resuscitate." quote:I could hear my mother now. She was talking to someone, maybe a nurse, and she sounded tired and upset. I wanted to jump out of the bed and run to her, to calm her, promise that everything was fine. But I wasn’t in any sort of shape for jumping, so I waited impatiently. Edward just instantly switching between asleep and awake in the background like a comedy skit. quote:I took advantage of my mother’s momentary distraction to keep the subject from returning to my less-than-candid behavior. “Where’s Phil?” I asked quickly. "He taught you how to buy groceries without breaking down in tears because you forgot how money worked and tried to pay with expired teabags?" quote:“Yes! How did you guess! The Suns, can you believe it?” "Also I have to make up for the years of depression and anxiety you caused by stealing his beloved daughter and turning her against him." quote:“You want to stay in Forks?” she asked, bewildered. The idea was inconceivable to her. And then her eyes flickered back toward Edward. “Why?” At this point this is a comedy. quote:“Bella, honey, you hate Forks,” she reminded me. "His body count isn't that high!" quote:“That’s right,” she agreed, easily pleased. I checked the timeline (because the Twilight Lexicon made a full timeline of every event in the series). She's been unconscious for two days. quote:“I was too nervous,” she admitted sheepishly. “There’s been some crime in the neighborhood, and I don’t like being there alone.” Another thing that would have improved the series is Bella being injured in each book, with even more ridiculous clumsiness-related excuses being crafted and Alice and Jasper getting more and more excited about "fabricating the evidence". quote:A nurse came bustling in then to check all my tubes and wires. My mother kissed my forehead, patted my gauze-wrapped hand, and left. "Also it says here you suffered a...heart attack?" quote:“I’m fine,” I assured her. Well, it's not as bad as murder so we'll give you a pass there. quote:“How was your nap?” I asked. Again, a preview of New Moon! quote:He didn’t say anything; he watched my face warily as the pain that had nothing to do with broken bones, pain that was infinitely worse, threatened to crush me. She loving knows. quote:His cool hands were on my face; I stared at him with wild eyes. “Shhh, Bella, calm down.” How often do vampires have to drink blood and how much? He got some from Bella two days before. quote:“Better?” he asked. “ This is one of the big sources of evidence that Bella has borderline personality disorder. As was explained, a prominent symptom is exaggerated fear of abandonment. Bella has become so attached to Edward in a few months of knowing him that just thinking he would break up with her causes a gigantic panic attack. It makes me seriously wonder about Stephenie Meyer. She managed to make a protagonist who so perfectly embodies a major, crippling mental illness that's often the product of being raised in an abusive environment, but in interviews and her portrayal of Bella she doesn't seem to think her character is all that bad or abnormal. That's the kind of writing that makes you wonder about the author's personal life and childhood. quote:“Why did you say that?” I whispered, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “Are you tired of having to save me all the time? Do you want me to go away?” Let's not forget that the one in Port Angeles was entirely on her wandering off stupidly in a place that's really hard to get lost in. quote:He winced at my words, but the haunted look didn’t leave his eyes. As someone who has been engaged to a girl with BPD at one point, Bella's panicked hysteria is completely realistic. quote:“Promise me,” I whispered. No, he's got legitimate concerns about your safety! Ones that the next book will immediately justify! quote:He heard the change in my tone. His eyes tightened. “I don’t seem to be strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose that you’ll get your way… whether it kills you or not,” he added roughly. Yeah, that's where this is going. quote:“You don’t know what you’re asking.” His voice was soft; he stared intently at the edge of the pillowcase. According to the Twilight Lexicon, it's only been 9 days since Bella and Edward officially became a couple. It's taken her about a week of dating to decide that she wants to be turned into a vampire, with all the associated supernatural baggage. quote:He was very calm, though. Decided. Your mom's first choice when you were born was to divorce her husband and take you because she was bored with small town life! She's not the best person to take your life lessons from! This conflict is perhaps the height of Bella's selfishness. She's been made aware of all the problems with vampiric life, that she would have to watch all her loved ones grow old and die without her (and likely abandon her parents to keep them from knowing) and never be able to maintain human friendships for very long to avoid being revealed as immortal. That she would need to hunt animals to quell the burning desire to kill every person around her. That she could never venture into the sun uncovered again. But within an incredibly short span of time she's already cast away all of these concerns in the name of her boyfriend. quote:“Exactly,” he snapped. “And I won’t end it for you.” It's hard for this book to make me despise Bella Swan more, but it's doing it! quote:He rolled his eyes and set his lips. “Bella, we’re not having this discussion anymore. I refuse to drat you to an eternity of night and that’s the end of it.” Can you believe this isn't close to the worst Bella behaves? quote:We stared at each other for a very long time. It was quiet except for the whirring of the machines, the beeping, the dripping, the ticking of the big clock on the wall. Finally, his expression softened. Oh I'm sure she doesn't swallow. quote:My heart rate started to climb. He read the fear in my eyes, and sighed in frustration. "Sometimes we get therapy!" quote:My eyes narrowed. “Don’t hold your breath.” This relationship is so hosed up. quote:I tried to shake my head, but it was too heavy. “’S not the same thing,” I mumbled. Combined with the pain medication, this was sufficient to stop her heart, killing her instantly. quote:“Thanks,” I sighed. We have one more chapter to go before moving on.
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Aug 12, 2019 16:49
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So this chapter showcases Bella's apparent borderline personality disorder diagnosis pretty well, and before we move on to New Moon I think it's good to take a more detailed look at how she meets the symptoms. She doesn't necessarily hit every one perfectly and obviously in every book, but it's apparent over the course of the series and she eventually comes to embody every one. I've personally been in a long term relationship with a girl who had BPD and was completely unmedicated and without therapy and a number of other people I know suffer from it, so this is a subject I have a lot of personal experience with.quote:A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, as well as marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: BPD is most commonly seen in women. There are concerns of misdiagnosis (such as passing off men who have it as simply having depression or bipolar disorder), but it's notable that BPD is commonly seen in people who were raised in an abusive environment. Every person I know myself who has BPD is a girl who was raised with abuse, sometimes to utterly horrifying extremes. Many of these symptoms are not only psychological damage from abuse, but coping mechanisms for an extreme environment that now can't be turned off once out of that situation. There's no known cure for BPD except extensive therapy and emboldening the victim with good habits to allow them to adjust their behavior in the real world. 1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. We just saw this one here! Bella has known Edward for less than 3 months and has only been in an actual relationship for a little over a week, but the mere thought of not being with him causes her to have a full-blown panic attack and begin demanding that he prove his loyalty. The entire plot of New Moon actually hinges on this behavior and causes her to engage in basically all of the other points on this list in one go. In the case of BPD brought from abuse, it's easy to see where this symptom would originate. 2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. Notice how Bella classifies people in her mind. They're often extremes that lack subtlety and aren't even accurate: Mike is "vile" while Edward is glorified into an inhuman being of pure love, despite Mike having done nothing worse than ask Bella out and be a little too friendly and Edward showing violent tendencies and severe mood swings that would make him an awful partner for anyone. Much of this comes from another problem for people with BPD: "splitting", or black-and-white thinking. People suffering from BPD have difficulty holding views that may seem mutually exclusive, which includes understanding human complexity. They can't assign both good and bad values to something that is both good and bad, instead making everything and everyone totally good or totally evil. If a good person makes a mistake, the BPD sufferer's mind is likely to instantly shift into classifying them as a bad person. This is something I encountered a lot in my relationship, and was ultimately a major cause of our breakup. Depending on whether I had made a mistake or done something she didn't like recently, her opinion of me would wildly swing between "The only person I can trust" and "Someone I can never trust who will always betray me." Splitting originates as a coping mechanism by allowing the person with BPD to immediately and painlessly discard something potentially harmful (while also taking care of the fear of abandonment by classifying the person as "a bad person" before abandoning them instead), but it also makes it very difficult for them to maintain relationships. Someone who does something that the BPD sufferer doesn't like, even if it's a mistake or they had a justifiable reason for doing so, can find themselves on the other end of serious rage or be completely cut off from contact and badmouthed to all of their friends. 3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. Bella has incredibly low self-esteem regardless of how her life goes. When she and Edward accidentally match before going to the woods, she laments how ugly she is while he looks like a runway model. She expresses disbelief at the amount of attention she gets from boys when she moves to Forks, finding excuses as to why anyone would ever be attracted to her. Like many people with BPD, she's incapable of objectively looking at herself or maintaining a positive subjective opinion of herself. A friend of mine with BPD is gorgeous enough to be a model and has a master's degree in psychology, but when complimented on her appearance or talents she immediately withdraws or even intentionally pulls an ugly face to deflect it. 4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., promiscuous sex, eating disorders, binge eating,substance abuse, reckless driving). While Bella has already displayed a lack of sense with her continued attempt at dating a vampire who's constantly fighting the urge to kill her, this point becomes one of her defining characteristics in New Moon. 5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats or self-injuring behavior such as cutting, interfering with the healing of scars (excoriation) or picking at oneself. This is another one that we'll see in New Moon. While Bella never actively harms herself in the sense of cutting, she intentionally engages in reckless activity despite knowing her clumsiness and suffers many injuries over the course of it. She displays an intentional disregard for her safety that can be interpreted as a form of reckless suicide attempts, no longer caring if she lives or dies from her actions and leaving it up to fate. 6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood A major sign of BPD is that they tend to feel emotions extremely strongly, both positive and negative, which leads to confusion (and possibly misdiagnosis) with bipolar disorder. With Bella, it's always a mystery how she'll feel about any given situation or person. Over the course of one chapter she may swing dramatically between anger, depression, and joy. Her obsession with Edward is such that his mere presence or departure can completely shift her mood between extremes, and even the thought of potentially talking to him or seeing him leave can send Bella spiraling in a different direction. This is one of the most serious problems for a person with BPD and one of the most major causes of their difficulty with personal relationships. As I've witnessed myself, a short burst of anger caused by accidentally hurting someone can be enough to send them running sobbing all the way to their car to drive somewhere else even as the other person tries to calm them down. They suddenly have to leave work early or isolate themselves because of an unexpected bout of severe depression or anger that keeps them from interacting with anyone in a normal fashion. An untreated BPD sufferer is often like an emotional minefield, with a seemingly innocuous occurrence or one that a neurotypical person would shrug off causing a sudden, unexpected shift that can last for hours. 7. Chronic feelings of emptiness Again, a New Moon appearance. With some pretty godawful prose describing it. 8. Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger Remember how often Bella got mad? How many times she would insist that she doesn't normally get so angry or want to commit violence, but displays a consistent trend of anger over innocuous things or desires to hurt people and break stuff? Along with the extreme display of emotion and splitting, this is one of the hallmarks of BPD that's instantly recognizable and a severe problem for other people around them. It works in tandem with #6 to make bouts of rage a relatively common reaction to something negative, often turning violent. In the case of my relationship, it exacerbated our issues; admitting to a mistake that I made or something I forgot could result in severe anger, but so could keeping quiet about it (which would in turn lead to the label of "liar" or "untrustworthy"). 9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation, delusions or severe dissociative symptoms This occurs in New Moon, and lemme tell you it gets real creepy real fast. The severe dissociation is another one that occurs as a coping mechanism. By mentally detaching from the abuse you suffer, you become able to better withstand it. Like other coping mechanisms that become BPD symptoms, however, it becomes inappropriate and potentially dangerous to use when you're no longer in that situation. Dissociation can occur at seemingly random times and suddenly leave the person unable to communicate normally or respond to situations appropriately. In extreme situations, it can manifest as a sort of split personality that the victim falls into when they dissociate. The aforementioned friend of mine has this as well, where she would also use the dissociation when she wanted to engage in harmful impulsive behavior to apply the negative consequences and reputation to "someone else."
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Aug 12, 2019 18:09
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chitoryu12 posted:You can call him that, you know. He deserves it. What he deserves is to have this basket case cut out of his life entirely so he never has to deal with her again.
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Aug 13, 2019 00:37
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The worst part about Bella's wish to be turned into a vampire against Edward's cautions is that in the fourth book when she gets turned, she is proven right on every count except the 3 days of excruciating pain in that her mary sureness makes her immune to the craving for human blood and gives her the shielding power to save the day. Plus Charlie and Renee are able to stay in her life no problem.
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Aug 13, 2019 13:27
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Epilogue: An Occasionquote:Edward helped me into his car, being very careful of the wisps of silk and chiffon, the flowers he’d just pinned into my elaborately styled curls, and my bulky walking cast. He ignored the angry set of my mouth. This is such a terrible relationship! Even in the final chapter, Bella is whining about something and Edward is making fun of her for it! quote:“I’m not coming over anymore if Alice is going to treat me like Guinea Pig Barbie when I do,” I griped. I’d spent the better part of the day in Alice’s staggeringly vast bathroom, a helpless victim as she played hairdresser and cosmetician. Whenever I fidgeted or complained, she reminded me that she didn’t have any memories of being human, and asked me not to ruin her vicarious fun. Then she’d dressed me in the most ridiculous dress—deep blue, frilly and off the shoulders, with French tags I couldn’t read—a dress more suitable for a runway than Forks. Nothing good could come of our formal attire, of that I was sure. Unless… but I was afraid to put my suspicions into words, even in my own head. I really want Alice to just constantly use "I don't remember being human" as an excuse for every single thing she does to Bella. quote:I was distracted then by the sound of a phone ringing. Edward pulled his cell phone from a pocket inside his jacket, looking briefly at the caller ID before answering. It's almost like you acted incredibly irresponsibly and broke his trust in ways he'll never even be able to comprehend, and you're underage! quote:Something Charlie was saying made Edward’s eyes widen in disbelief, and then a grin spread across his face. Every attempt by Meyer to write Edward's suave, Old World dialogue makes it very apparent that this is a first draft. quote:My face and neck flushed crimson with anger. I could feel the rage-induced tears starting to fill my eyes. Remember one of the signs of BPD is an inability to control emotions and a tendency toward severe anger? quote:It was embarrassingly obvious now. If I’d been paying any attention at all, I’m sure I would have noticed the date on the posters that decorated the school buildings. But I’d never dreamed he was thinking of subjecting me to this. Didn’t he know me at all? Any good boyfriend would end the relationship right here and now. Bursting into rage and crying because you're going to prom is one of the fastest ways to scare a sane person away. quote:“This is completely ridiculous. Why are you crying?” he demanded in frustration. Fortunately for Edward, Bella's obsession with him and emotional volatility means he can change her mood instantly! quote:“Fine,” I pouted, unable to glare as effectively as I would have liked. “I’ll go quietly. But you’ll see. I’m way overdue for more bad luck. I’ll probably break my other leg. Look at this shoe! It’s a death trap!” I held out my good leg as evidence. We have a series where the cool vampire family keeps the protagonist around mainly because her incompetence is amusing and one of them is weirdly obsessive with her. quote:“Is Charlie in on this?” I asked, suddenly suspicious. At this point in the films Tyler has completely disappeared. He's utterly gone after the van crash. quote:We were at the school now; Rosalie’s red convertible was conspicuous in the parking lot. The clouds were thin today, a few streaks of sunlight escaping through far away in the west. Bella has somehow managed to have four dramatic mood swings in three pages. About prom! quote:“There, now,” he said gently, “it won’t be so bad.” He leaned down and wrapped one arm around my waist. I took his other hand and let him lift me from the car. "Hey look, there's Emmett with the bucket of pig's blood!" quote:“Well,” he muttered as we slowly approached the ticket table—he was carrying most of my weight, but I still had to shuffle and wobble my feet forward—“there are more than enough vampires present.” In the first chapter of Midnight Sun Edward seriously contemplates how he's going to get away with massacring the entire classroom so he can drink Bella's blood and just barely restrains himself from doing so. This joke is incredibly not funny. quote:He bought our tickets, then turned me toward the dance floor. I cringed against his arm and dragged my feet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psch9N4PmO4 quote:“Edward.” My throat was so dry I could only manage a whisper. “I honestly can’t dance!” I could feel the panic bubbling up inside my chest. Edward you're going to break her other leg! quote:Alice caught my eye on a turn and smiled in encouragement—I smiled back. I was surprised to realize that I was actually enjoying myself… a little. Jacob is the guy who only has one dress shirt and tie that he wears any time his dad forces him to. quote:After the first shock of recognition, I couldn’t help but feel bad for Jacob. He was clearly uncomfortable—excruciatingly so. His face was apologetic as his eyes met mine. It's definitely shocking because it's been only 2 months, and most people stop growing by this age! quote:Edward’s face was composed, his expression blank. His only answer was to set me carefully on my feet, and take a step back. Imagine not hitting puberty until you're 17. quote:“So, how did you end up here tonight?” I asked without true curiosity. Considering Edward’s reaction, I could guess. "We're poor as poo poo, Bella!" quote:“Yes, I can,” I muttered. “Well, I hope you’re enjoying yourself, at least. Seen anything you like?” I teased, nodding toward a group of girls lined up against the wall like pastel confections. She taps him on the shoulder and he just swipes her head off. quote:Jacob looked away again, ashamed. “Don’t get mad, okay?” Mood swing number five in this chapter! quote:Jacob wouldn’t meet my eyes. We weren’t even bothering to sway to the music, though his hands were still on my waist, and mine around his neck. Number six! She's back to friendly! quote:“Sorry you had to do this, Jake,” I snickered. And thus a rivalry for the ages was born. quote:I pulled back to look at him. His face was very serious. "I can see every pore on the skin of every person in this room. I can see individual motes of dust floating through the air. I can see the spider wriggling in its web devouring a fly in the rafters. My existence is hell." quote:We were twirling again, my feet on his as he held me close. If you see a random name of a high schooler, don't bother remembering it. It probably won't matter. quote:As soon as we were alone, he swung me up into his arms, and carried me across the dark grounds till he reached the bench beneath the shadow of the madrone trees. He sat there, keeping me cradled against his chest. The moon was already up, visible through the gauzy clouds, and his face glowed pale in the white light. His mouth was hard, his eyes troubled. "And I have to be in another lovely book." quote:“Some things don’t have to end,” I muttered through my teeth, instantly tense. That's not a thing you should have to say to your boyfriend! quote:He smiled briefly, but it didn’t touch his eyes. “It wasn’t so bad, you said so yourself.” "Bella you'll be in so much pain that you'll completely void your bowels." quote:I scowled to hide my embarrassment. “I don’t know how these things work. To me, at least, it seems more rational than prom does.” He was still grinning. “It’s not funny,” I said. You thought being turned into a vampire was more rational than going to prom? quote:“No, you’re right, it’s not,” he agreed, his smile fading. “I’d rather treat it like a joke, though, than believe you’re serious.” You're right! Do it to be with Alice instead! quote:“Do you remember when you told me that I didn’t see myself very clearly?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “You obviously have the same blindness.” Man, she was just ready to go any day, any time. quote:He chuckled darkly, and leaned away. His face did look disappointed. "Get therapy." quote:“Bella.” His fingers lightly traced the shape of my lips. “I will stay with you—isn’t that enough?” Causing a heart attack that kills her instantly! And we're done with the first book! I have to say, I came in expecting to find some sort of redeeming qualities and came out really disappointed. While the supporting characters are interesting enough that I would like to see more of them, ultimately Twilight really is as bad as its reputation. And I know for a fact that things will only get worse as we continue on. New Moon, from what I remember, might actually be the lowest point of the series.
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Aug 13, 2019 14:55
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1000% New Moon sucks so much worse than any book in the series except perhaps the portion of Breaking Dawn in between The honeymoon and Bella being turned. For one, the vampires are absent for 90% of the book, so all the good characters in Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Alice and even Edward to an extent(I actually like Edward's portrayal in the books and movies, though the Edward POV manuscript kind of ruins that for me. Rosalie is a pain anyway and Jasper is just too not there even when he is there.) are gone and replaced with the Werewolves. Some of them are OK but again, Jacob and Bella's interplay takes up most of it and it is the WORST.
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Aug 13, 2019 15:24
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The end of Twilight includes the whole first chapter of New Moon so I read it. If you were hoping Edward and Bella's relationship would improve one iota in 6 months, prepare to be disappointed. The dynamic (Bella complains and has wild mood swings, Edward mocks her) is exactly the same. On the other hand, it makes you like the rest of the Cullens even more than them. I can't believe Meyer was able to inject so much charisma and interesting backstories into the side characters and then the protagonists just drop the loving ball.
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Aug 13, 2019 15:41
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loooool posted:But his mercurial mood shifted on me. He pursed his lips, and his eyes were probing. He examined my face for a long moment. Pot, kettle, etc.
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Aug 13, 2019 16:05
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Remember when she decided to make a short spin off book of any character she wanted, and instead of picking literally anyone more interesting than Bella, she wrote a story about Bree Tanner? The second most irritating teen brunette with boy crushes in the series. gently caress, even Tyler would have been more interesting.
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Aug 13, 2019 16:28
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MorgaineDax posted:Remember when she decided to make a short spin off book of any character she wanted, and instead of picking literally anyone more interesting than Bella, she wrote a story about Bree Tanner? The second most irritating teen brunette with boy crushes in the series. gently caress, even Tyler would have been more interesting. Alice and Jasper met in 1948 and join Carlisle in 1950, so I would be interested in a story about them in those intervening years. Or just a book about Emmett's one-vampire feud against the existence of bears.
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Aug 13, 2019 16:36
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Or literally any single vampire in Breaking Dawn.
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Aug 13, 2019 16:52
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Every few months Emmett comes back to the Cullen house wearing a complete outfit (including a hat) made entirely of bearskin and he just shrugs when asked where it came from.
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Aug 13, 2019 16:56
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I feel like she wants their disagreements to come across as cute or playful or the changing moods to be brief or light compared to their baseline for the scene, but that would've taken revision or more experience to write well.
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Aug 13, 2019 19:25
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Lord Zedd-Repulsa posted:I feel like she wants their disagreements to come across as cute or playful or the changing moods to be brief or light compared to their baseline for the scene, but that would've taken revision or more experience to write well. Like I said, the way Bella fits so perfectly into a BPD diagnosis and how Meyer alternates between ignoring and glorifying the symptoms makes me seriously wonder about Meyer's own mental health and past, especially taking into account the mild self-insert elements of Bella.
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Aug 13, 2019 20:29
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Yeah I'm feeling pretty yikes about that.
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Aug 13, 2019 21:40
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It's a red flag that after Edward says, basically, quote:I am wretched and my very existence fills me with self loathing as I try to reconcile my prior humanity with the unhuman predator I have become. Only sheer force of will keeps me from complete and utter sociopathy and I live in constant fear that I'll allow my self control to slip and surrender to this overwhelming craving for human blood. My very nature separates me from human interaction and I'm forced to live a transitory marginal existence. I pray for death, but I've been cursed by God into this immortal half life. Her reaction is, "Being a vampire must be so cool! Can you turn me into one too?"
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Aug 14, 2019 02:08
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 I’ve started browsing Twilight memes on Tumblr and I feel like I understand too much now.
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Aug 14, 2019 13:13
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Epicurius posted:It's a red flag that after Edward says, basically, I wonder if Edward is afraid in his tragic gothic hero hell mindset that if Bella is a vampire he won't feel the same way about her and thus wants to keep her human to act as his unobtainable ideal. Sounds like something that would have been interesting to reveal in the books somewhere, huh?
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Aug 14, 2019 15:35
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Like the first book, New Moon opens with a quote.quote:These violent delights have violent ends Stephenie Meyer is fully aware of how Romeo & Juliet ends, which is discussed later. Her constant referencing of it comes off as even stranger in that context. Preface quote:I felt like I was trapped in one of those terrifying nightmares, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can’t make your body move fast enough. My legs seemed to move slower and slower as I fought my way through the callous crowd, but the hands on the huge clock tower didn’t slow. With relentless, uncaring force, they turned inexorably toward the end—the end of everything. One thing you can give Meyer credit for is that she knows how to hook readers in, even if it's more appealing to her target audience than an average reader (especially someone who had to struggle through the first book). New Moon also has a major change from Twilight: editing. Rather than 2 weeks of editing after some work at home, New Moon saw 5 months of passing through multiple hands and reworking major functional problems with the story. Meyer admits that she knew she was writing a book that people would actually read and market instead of just making GBS threads out a first draft for funsies, so she was far more careful with subsequent books. Meyer was actually kind enough to post "outtakes" on her website, removed sections (including a whole alternate epilogue) that will let us see exactly how the book could have gone instead. To begin, she used an entirely different quote for the beginning: quote:Come, gentle night; come, loving, black-browed night; New Moon actually began while Meyer was in the process of self-editing Twilight, after she wrote 300 pages' worth of epilogues and decided to just make a sequel. She took one of the epilogues and turned it into Forever Dawn, making it 300 pages in when she got the word that Twilight was accepted for publication. She realized that her story had now been classified as "young adult" and Forever Dawn had skipped the rest of high school to go straight to Bella's adult life. She says she has no plans to ever release it, finding some parts embarrassingly bad, but used it as a loose outline of Breaking Dawn so we can guess what the sequel was probably like. When she wrote a new sequel, she decided to think logically about what the characters would do in these situations and let that guide the story instead of trying to make it fit what she wanted. She decided to take a surprisingly interesting premise: what happens if true love abandons you? Chapter 1: Party quote:I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I was dreaming. Grandma Marie is actually in Hell, condemned to haunt Bella's dreams for eternity. quote:I was about to ask her a question; I had so many—What was she doing here in my dream? What had she been up to in the past six years? Was Pop okay, and had they found each other, wherever they were?—but she opened her mouth when I did, so I stopped to let her go first. She paused, too, and then we both smiled at the little awkwardness. This is weird. These passages...aren't bad? quote:What was he doing? The whole reason he lived in Forks, the rainiest place in the world, was so that he could be outside in the daytime without exposing his family’s secret. Yet here he was, strolling gracefully toward me—with the most beautiful smile on his angel’s face—as if I were the only one here. This is what the first book should have looked like! It's still not great, but you can immediately see how Meyer's writing has tremendously improved once she's got a team of editors putting serious work into the book. quote:I woke with a start—my eyelids popping open wide—and gasped. Dull gray light, the familiar light of an overcast morning, took the place of the blinding sun in my dream. I'm really glad the book tackles this problem so quickly. The older Bella gets, the more implausible their relationship is. No matter how true their love is, how are you going to pursue a relationship even slightly publicly when you're 47 and he's 17? The problem is that Bella's obsession with Edward leads her to the insane conclusion of "Therefore I must become a vampire." quote:When I went to brush my teeth, I was almost surprised that the face in the mirror hadn’t changed. I stared at myself, looking for some sign of impending wrinkles in my ivory skin. The only creases were the ones on my forehead, though, and I knew that if I could manage to relax, they would disappear. I couldn’t. My eyebrows stayed lodged in a worried line over my anxious brown eyes. Bella how do you think aging works? quote:It was just a dream, I reminded myself again. Just a dream… but also my worst nightmare. Ah, mood swing number one! quote:His sister Alice was standing by his side, waiting for me, too. I actually saw a Tumblr post this morning talking about how quickly the Cullens' cover would realistically be blown. Carlisle and Esme were canonically 23 and 26 respectively when they were turned (the movies use much older actors, with Elizabeth Reaser being 33 and Peter Facinelli being 35 when they filmed the first movie). Edward is 17, Alice and Jasper are 19, Emmett is 20, and Rosalie is 18. All of them except Esme are only a few years apart in age and Carlisle would look more like an undergrad than a lauded doctor. It would take a few seconds for someone in Forks to get real drat suspicious of their claims even before they all suddenly move away without warning. Also, how does Carlisle maintain his status as a doctor? As far as I know everyone here goes by their real names all the time. "Carlisle Cullen" is his name, not a fake identity, and the "kids" only changed their last names to match their fake family relationships. Canonically he returns to Harvard every so often to stay up to date on current medicine (you'd think he could just read medical journals), but how does nobody find it suspicious that a mysterious hot blonde named Carlisle Cullen appears at Harvard every decade to graduate as a doctor? quote:The sight of Alice waiting there—her tawny eyes brilliant with excitement, and a small silver-wrapped square in her hands—made me frown. I’d told Alice I didn’t want anything, anything, not gifts or even attention, for my birthday. Obviously, my wishes were being ignored. Unfortunately, even editors can't make me like Bella. quote:I slammed the door of my ’53 Chevy truck—a shower of rust specks fluttered down to the wet blacktop—and walked slowly toward where they waited. Alice skipped forward to meet me, her pixie face glowing under her spiky black hair. Another Tumblr post said that if they were having to repeat high school every decade, they would try to come up with a new personality each time and would probably start running out of ideas after the first century. I can definitely see Alice and Emmett doing it, at least. Do you think there was ever a decade where Emmett tried to join the football team? It seems like he would have. quote:We reached Edward then, and he held out his hand for mine. I took it eagerly, forgetting, for a moment, my glum mood. His skin was, as always, smooth, hard, and very cold. He gave my fingers a gentle squeeze. I looked into his liquid topaz eyes, and my heart gave a not-quite-so-gentle squeeze of its own. Hearing the stutter in my heartbeats, he smiled again. It also seems like Meyer's writing of Edward's highly formal dialogue has improved. In general, this scene is flowing way better than any from the first book. quote:“Just checking.” He ran his hand through his tousled bronze hair. “You might have changed your mind. Most people seem to enjoy things like birthdays and gifts.” "Normally you're an utter oval office!" quote:“Getting older,” I answered anyway, and my voice was not as steady as I wanted it to be. Beside me, Edward’s smile tightened into a hard line. Make Alice the protagonist instead. quote:“It’s older than Edward,” I mumbled. How about everything he described to you? quote:“What time will you be at the house?” Alice continued, changing the subject. From her expression, she was up to exactly the kind of thing I’d been hoping to avoid. As a Shakespearean actor myself, that is absolutely correct and I hate teachers who try to just have kids read the plays to understand them. quote:Edward rolled his eyes. Actually the Baz Luhrmann version is the best. quote:Finally, Alice lost the smug smile and glared at me. “This can be easy, or this can be hard, Bella, but one way or the other—” This is actually an issue that Alice has, which we got a hint of in Bella's exhaustion over her using her as a Barbie doll for prom. She tends to be very bullheaded about getting her way with things like dressing up, parties, and later a wedding. She sometimes comes off almost like she treats people as dolls to play with and disregards or even doesn't understand that they may have their own desires and opinions. It says a lot that she might be an empty sociopath but is still more interesting and compelling than Bella and Edward. quote:Edward interrupted her threat. “Relax, Alice. If Bella wants to watch a movie, then she can. It’s her birthday.” It literally can't! Part of vampire biology is that their features are subtly transformed into a more beautiful version of themselves, making it easier for them to attract prey. This is why the Cullens are so beautiful that people stop and stare: they were already attractive as humans, so their vampirism has made them inhumanly, impossibly beautiful. This is also why James was supposed to simply look average: he was a pretty ugly dude in life, so the best the vampire venom could do was make him look normal. quote:As the day progressed, I considered ways to get out of whatever was going down at the Cullen house tonight. It would be bad enough to have to celebrate when I was in the mood to mourn. But, worse than that, this was sure to involve attention and gifts. Edward maintains his fortune despite ostensibly being 17 by repeatedly claiming to be his own descendant and inheriting from himself when his past identity "dies". Presumably nobody gets suspicious that every single male in the family is named "Edward Cullen" and they all look identical. Or the flashy lifestyle with sports cars and expensive college tuition that's bound to attract attention. quote:But how could I let him give me things when I had nothing to reciprocate with? He, for some unfathomable reason, wanted to be with me. Anything he gave me on top of that just threw us more out of balance. Probably because they all sit by themselves, quietly muttering to each other, and buy food they don't eat every day before throwing it away and ignoring everyone else. quote:I was a rare exception to that rule. Sometimes it bothered Edward how very comfortable I was with being close to him. He thought he was hazardous to my health—an opinion I rejected vehemently whenever he voiced it. And that's where you're wrong, kiddo. And with that, I am actually cutting this chapter in half because it's slightly too long for the post limit! chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Aug 14, 2019 |
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Aug 14, 2019 17:06
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Since I mentioned outtakes, there's also ones for the first book from the very first rough draft Meyer wrote. There's a short segment cut from Chapter 11 detailing Bella actually being clumsy at badminton (she jumps too far forward, hits the net with the racket, and it's sprung backwards into her face and glances off Mike's shoulder) that just serves to extend it without really adding anything to the plot, but I do think there was additional paragraphs from other chapters that could have equally been cut. There are three other outtakes provided, including an entirely cut Chapter 20 and an extremely long pre-prom sequence that would have more than doubled the length of the epilogue. We'll cover those at a later date, but since Emmett is awesome I wanted to provide this one here. Originally, the epilogue would have had Emmett describe his own backstory. For some reason, despite uploading these for free online, Meyer has protected the PDF files against copying or opening in another program. Fortunately I can run it through a free OCR program to extract the text. What you're seeing is from the absolute first stuff Meyer put out on her computer, before any editing was done, so any spelling or grammatical mistakes are likely her own rather than OCR errors. Emmett and the Bear quote:I was surprised to find a strange kinship growing between myself and Emmett, especially since he had once been the most frightening to me of them all. It had to do with how we had both been chosen to join the family; we'd both been loved—and loved in return—while we were human, though very briefly for him. Only Emmett remembered—he alone really understood the miracle that Edward remained to me. I believe this was cut (establishing Edward as becoming a brilliant cook as well) because vampires have a highly enhanced sense of smell and Edward should logically be a "supertaster". quote:"He was finished playing with me then, and I knew I was about to die," Emmett remembered softly, winding up the tale of his human years with the story of the bear. Edward paid us no attention; he'd heard it before. "I couldn't move, and my consciousness was slipping away, when I heard what I thought was another bear, and a fight-over which would get my carcass, I supposed. Suddenly it felt like I was flying. I figured I'd died, but I tried to open my eyes anyway. And then I saw her—" his face was incredulous at the memory; I empathized entirely, "—and I knew I was dead. I didn't even mind the pain—I fought to keep my eyelids open, I didn't want to miss one second of the angel's face. I was delirious, of course, wondering why we hadn't gotten to heaven yet, thinking it must be farther away than I'd expected. I kept waiting for her to take flight. And then she brought me to God." He laughed his deep, booming laugh. I could easily comprehend anyone making that assumption. She probably also cut this because Emmett laughing about how many people he killed would utterly ruin his character. quote:Emmett's playful nudge to Edward's shoulder set us both rocking. Again, slapstick comedy improves everything with these books. quote:"Edward!" I scolded, horrified. While Emmett does get more backstory in this version, it's easy to see why it got cut. The two cut segments from the epilogue indicate that it was insanely long and meandered from point to point at a time when the story is supposed to be making a timeskip and wrapping up. While the prom scene is filled with godawful writing and poor characterization, it's at least of appropriate length and would be a decent ending in the hands of a better writer. It also shows essentially no positive traits in Edward (he spends the whole scene glaring, snarling, or violently beating his adoptive brother) and inadvertently makes Emmett, an ordinarily likable character, completely unsympathetic and inhumanly detached from his murders.
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Aug 14, 2019 18:08
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chitoryu12 posted:and inadvertently makes Emmett, an ordinarily likable character, completely unsympathetic and inhumanly detached from his murders. Makes sense to cut it for what Meyer was going for, but in a novel about vampires trying to be human friendly and it not being natural it would be a good character moment.
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Aug 14, 2019 22:55
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Every single minor character is more interesting than Bella and Edward lol
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Aug 14, 2019 23:14
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MrFlibble posted:Makes sense to cut it for what Meyer was going for, but in a novel about vampires trying to be human friendly and it not being natural it would be a good character moment. It's a hard choice to make. While you can be understanding of a vampire's lifestyle to a certain point, there's good and bad ways for it to come off. Edward (to his credit) actually seems somewhat traumatized by vampiric life and his temporary excursion as a vampire serial killer, and the second chapter gets into some more about his religious beliefs that drive his hatred of his immortal condition and fear of turning Bella. While the rest of his family got over their brooding years ago and are a bunch of fun to be around, Edward can't get over it. Offhand joking about all the murders sets the Cullens too far off the beaten path for what Meyer is going for. You can't have vampires come off as a bunch of generally good people who serve as a surrogate family to a human and struggle with their condition if they're totally disconnected from the killings they committed or consider them amusing stories now.
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Aug 15, 2019 00:23
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On the other hand:
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Aug 15, 2019 00:23
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quote:The afternoon passed quickly. School ended, and Edward walked me to my truck as he usually did. But this time, he held the passenger door open for me. Alice must have been taking his car home so that he could keep me from making a run for it. Remember when she responded just to the idea of her dad buying her a car with his own money with revulsion? quote:“You want a nice stereo? Drive your own car.” I was so nervous about Alice’s plans, on top of my already gloomy mood, that the words came out sharper than I’d meant them. I was hardly ever bad-tempered with Edward, and my tone made him press his lips together to keep from smiling. You spent most of the last book alternating between creepily obsessive behavior and arguing with him! quote:When I parked in front of Charlie’s house, he reached over to take my face in his hands. He handled me very carefully, pressing just the tips of his fingers softly against my temples, my cheekbones, my jawline. Like I was especially breakable. Which was exactly the case—compared with him, at least. She's improving. 6 months ago that would have been enough to put her in defib. quote:Edward had drawn many careful lines for our physical relationship, with the intent being to keep me alive. Though I respected the need for maintaining a safe distance between my skin and his razor-sharp, venom-coated teeth, I tended to forget about trivial things like that when he was kissing me. Also considering that his flesh is rock-hard, his erection could actually impale you through the stomach if he got one right now. quote:“Be good, please,” he breathed against my cheek. He pressed his lips gently to mine one more time and then pulled away, folding my arms across my stomach. I just can't get over how incredibly uncomfortable kissing Edward must be. Like making out with a Greek statue in a room with the air conditioning turned up way too high. quote:“You know, I’ve never had much patience with Romeo,” he commented as the movie started. It says a lot about Bella that her childhood crush is a teenager who's best known for impulsively declaring his intent to marry a girl he just met at a party, killing her cousin and intended suitor, and committing suicide as soon as he finds out that his new wife is apparently dead. quote:I sighed. “Do you want me to watch this alone?” Is he...chewing her hair? quote:The movie eventually captured my interest, thanks in large part to Edward whispering Romeo’s lines in my ear—his irresistible, velvet voice made the actor’s voice sound weak and coarse by comparison. And I did cry, to his amusement, when Juliet woke and found her new husband dead. Just wiping her hair on her face. Is this what Meyer thinks is sexy? Is this what she does with her husband? He just mops up her tears with her own hair? quote:“She’s very pretty.” Jesus Christ, Edward. quote:“What?” I gasped. I did see someone point out that even though vampires go up like they're soaked in gasoline, Carlisle apparently never tried setting himself on fire. quote:I twisted around so that I could read his face. “What are you talking about?” I demanded. “What do you mean, this is something you had to think about once?” Hm. Maybe Juliet's crush on Romeo is just her taste in men. quote:For one second, the memory of my last trip to Phoenix washed through my head and made me feel dizzy. I could see it all so clearly—the blinding sun, the heat waves coming off the concrete as I ran with desperate haste to find the sadistic vampire who wanted to torture me to death. James, waiting in the mirrored room with my mother as his hostage—or so I’d thought. I hadn’t known it was all a ruse. Just as James hadn’t known that Edward was racing to save me; Edward made it in time, but it had been a close one. Unthinkingly, my fingers traced the crescent-shaped scar on my hand that was always just a few degrees cooler than the rest of my skin. Notice how he doesn't say the rest of his family wouldn't help. quote:I didn’t want to believe he was serious, but his golden eyes were brooding, focused on something far away in the distance as he contemplated ways to end his own life. Abruptly, I was furious. The reason Edward never called them the Volturi is because the Volturi didn't exist. Remember that Twilight was written as a stand-alone story and initially had no intention of becoming a full series. Meyer even said Jacob's status as a werewolf wasn't decided until she began writing New Moon; his transformation into a wolf in Bella's dream was just a metaphor based on the tribe's reverence of wolves. Aro, Caius, and Marcus were just supposed to be really old vampires living the high life in Italy. quote:“Anyway, you don’t irritate the Volturi,” Edward went on, interrupting my reverie. “Not unless you want to die—or whatever it is we do.” His voice was so calm, it made him sound almost bored by the prospect. The "whatever it is we do" line actually comes into play in the next chapter. Meyer has some surprisingly semi-philosophical discussion on vampirism to put out that gives Edward some new meaning to his reticence to transform Bella. New Moon in general has been feeling a lot more fleshed out than the first book and the long dialogue scenes aren't nearly as grating. At least not by the point I'm up to. quote:My anger turned to horror. I took his marble face between my hands and held it very tightly. It would certainly make for a shorter book. quote:A trace of pain touched his perfect features. You're really not! quote:He was about to argue, but then he let it go. “Moot point,” he reminded me. Abruptly, he pulled himself up into a more formal posture, shifting me to the side so that we were no longer touching. These books would be so much better if Meyer played up the comedy that occurs. quote:“Nice save,” Charlie noted. “If they’re doing something fun at the Cullens’ tonight, Bella, you should take some pictures. You know how your mother gets—she’ll be wanting to see the pictures faster than you can take them.” It's canon that Alice has bathed Bella. I am not going to check if fanfics were written about this. quote:“Okay. You kids have fun tonight.” It was clearly a dismissal. Charlie was already edging toward the living room and the TV. I see no reason why Emmett at least wouldn't be the kind to insist on celebrating birthdays anyway. You can tell that's a motherfucker who parties. quote:It always startled me a little when he brought up things like that. “Fine, I’ll behave.” Can we get a story about Emmett and Rosalie's African expedition instead? quote:“Emmett wanted to be here.” How could you be so cruel as to not only ignore Edward's warnings, but threaten to use his sister against him? quote:Edward growled—a deep, menacing sound. “This isn’t going to be your last birthday, Bella,” he vowed. "Don't prostrate yourself in front of Alice, begging her to transform you into a creature of the night." quote:“Sure,” I muttered. Bella, you ignorant slut. quote:Edward started laughing. He helped me out of the car, pulled me up the stairs, and was still laughing as he opened the door for me. As nutty as Alice is about this, if I was going to have anyone decorate for a party it would be her. With her vampire speed she probably took 5 minutes to do the whole thing. quote:Rosalie and Emmett stood behind them. Rosalie didn’t smile, but at least she didn’t glare. Emmett’s face was stretched into a huge grin. It had been months since I’d seen them; I’d forgotten how gloriously beautiful Rosalie was—it almost hurt to look at her. And had Emmett always been so… big? Even Jasper's brooding manages to be more interesting than Edward's. quote:“Time to open presents,” Alice declared. She put her cool hand under my elbow and towed me to the table with the cake and the shiny packages. Make everything about the Cullens and not her goddammit. quote:“Open mine and Edward’s next,” Alice said, so excited her voice was a high-pitched trill. She held a small, flat square in her hand. Finally, Bella's clumsiness affects the plot. quote:It all happened very quickly then.
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Aug 15, 2019 13:25
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And THIS is why you don't hang out with vampires. It's like a sentient hot dog deciding to go to Coney Island on July 4th.
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Aug 15, 2019 14:45
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Epicurius posted:And THIS is why you don't hang out with vampires. Fans, of course, asked the obvious question: if a single drop of blood is enough to make Jasper lose control, how does he ever handle being around people? Even assuming nobody is bleeding from an accident, he's attending high school with a lot of girls on their period. He should have a chance of horrifying DJ Khaled every day he shows up. Rather than saying something like "Don't be gross, I'm not writing about that," Stephenie Meyer actually answered this question. quote:Several girls wanted to know if Edward would have a more difficult time being around Bella when she’s having her period. Answer: Yes, a little bit, but he would never say anything about it–much too much of a gentleman. And Bella would be way to embarrassed to ask. (It’s not the same as a cut, though. It’s sort of "dead" blood, if you get my meaning). So there you have it. Canon explanation for how vampires deal with menstruation. Because we needed that.
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Aug 15, 2019 15:10
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They must have left out all the parts where Jasper takes out an entire school and Alice has to stage a freak gas line explosion to cover it up every time he loses his poo poo at a kid getting nailed in the face with a kickball in gym class. Also Emmett would totally have a birthday party every year. Don't him and Rosalie have multiple weddings just for the parties and for another excuse to knock down a house with their vampire loving?
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Aug 15, 2019 16:12
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MorgaineDax posted:They must have left out all the parts where Jasper takes out an entire school and Alice has to stage a freak gas line explosion to cover it up every time he loses his poo poo at a kid getting nailed in the face with a kickball in gym class. Yes! There's no reason Emmett would just ignore his birthday like that! I do like that the modern fandom interpretation of the Cullen kids seems to be that they have one shared brain cell between them while Carlisle and Esme have 400 combined years of being tired of this poo poo.
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Aug 15, 2019 16:28
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In her website’s FAQ, Stephenie Meyer confirmed the CD Phil gave Bella: Linkin Park. She was canonically falling asleep by blasting “What I’ve Done” at max volume.
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Aug 15, 2019 23:15
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chitoryu12 posted:In her website’s FAQ, Stephenie Meyer confirmed the CD Phil gave Bella: Linkin Park. She was canonically falling asleep by blasting “What I’ve Done” at max volume. Idk if her website has changed at all, but back in the day she had playlists for the books. The movies have surprisingly good soundtracks, though.
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Aug 16, 2019 00:53
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PsychedelicWarlord posted:Idk if her website has changed at all, but back in the day she had playlists for the books. The movies have surprisingly good soundtracks, though. She loving loves Muse and Linkin Park. She removed any direct band reference during editing for fear that they would lose relevance and the books would end up dated. I unironically listened to the first movie’s soundtrack on CD all the time despite hating the movie.
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Aug 16, 2019 01:05
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chitoryu12 posted:She loving loves Muse and Linkin Park. She removed any direct band reference during editing for fear that they would lose relevance and the books would end up dated. It took me a while to get into it but these days I think the Death Cab song from the soundtrack is Fantastic. I don't know the rest of the soundtrack.
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Aug 16, 2019 12:15
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Chapter 2: Stitchesquote:Carlisle was the only one who stayed calm. Centuries of experience in the emergency room were evident in his quiet, authoritative voice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkMilWJJR_U The movie version is faithful, but instead of just throwing her backwards into a table Edward loving Falcon Punches her across the living room. quote:Carlisle knelt beside me, leaning close to examine my arm. I could feel the shock frozen on my face, and I tried to compose it. I've seen this interpreted in an abusive relationship sense, not wanting to go to the hospital for injuries to keep it from being revealed. I think that's reading too much into it, as we've got far more through the series to classify Bella and Edward's relationship as toxic and unhealthy. quote:“I’ll get your bag,” Alice said. Maybe she'll finally get over her fear of blood? In the last book the paper cut would have been enough to cause her to faint right onto the piano. quote:Edward’s face was like stone. Why are you? quote:Carlisle decided to intercede. “Edward, you may as well go find Jasper before he gets too far. I’m sure he’s upset with himself, and I doubt he’ll listen to anyone but you right now.” Tactful! quote:Edward’s eyes narrowed as we ganged up on him, but, finally, he nodded once and sprinted smoothly through the kitchen’s back door. I was sure he hadn’t taken a breath since I’d sliced my finger. Common problem back in Phoenix, I take it? quote:“It’s not your fault,” Carlisle comforted me with a chuckle. “It could happen to anyone.” Your vampire boyfriend hurling you through a table like the Undertaker to protect you from his adopted brother killing you could not happen to anyone! quote:He laughed again. Carlisle is the best vampire dad ever. quote:Plink, plink, plink. I was surprised at how much glass there seemed to be in my arm. I was tempted to glance at the growing pile, just to check the size, but I knew that idea would not be helpful to my no-vomiting strategy. I know Esme is supposed to be the one with the extreme vampire-driven compassion, but Carlisle earns major points for deciding to use his vampiric powers for good. In another universe, he'd probably be a superhero. quote:I mulled that over while he poked around, making sure all the glass splinters were gone. Then he rummaged in his bag for new tools, and I tried not to picture a needle and thread. It's incredible how much of a difference editing makes. Compare this dialogue scene to anything from the first book; it's such a dramatic shift in quality you could almost think a different writer wrote this book. quote:He examined my arm again. “There,” he said, snipping a thread. “All done.” He wiped an oversized Q-tip, dripping with some syrup-colored liquid, thoroughly across the operation site. The smell was strange; it made my head spin. The syrup stained my skin. This seems like a very dangerous way of disposal when you're as stable around fire as thermite! quote:“Sorry,” he apologized. “That ought to do it.… So I didn’t agree with my father’s particular brand of faith. But never, in the nearly four hundred years now since I was born, have I ever seen anything to make me doubt whether God exists in some form or the other. Not even the reflection in the mirror.” You're Mormon enough anyway, Bella! quote:“I’m sure all this sounds a little bizarre, coming from a vampire.” He grinned, knowing how their casual use of that word never failed to shock me. “But I’m hoping that there is still a point to this life, even for us. It’s a long shot, I’ll admit,” he continued in an offhand voice. “By all accounts, we’re damned regardless. But I hope, maybe foolishly, that we’ll get some measure of credit for trying.” Now you can seriously picture it from Edward's point of view. For many people, non-existence is the most terrifying thing imaginable. Edward believes that the afterlife exists, but he's lost his ticket. As far as he's concerned, nothing awaits him. He's had nearly a century to be depressed about this and it's hard to imagine it getting better. quote:Carlisle spoke slowly. “I look at my… son. His strength, his goodness, the brightness that shines out of him—and it only fuels that hope, that faith, more than ever. How could there not be more for one such as Edward?” Edward won't turn Bella into a vampire because he considers it a true curse. Turning her would be damning her to his own ultimate fear. It would literally be the worst thing in the universe he could do to her, worse than simply killing her. quote:I shook my head, aware of the stubborn set of my chin. Unfortunately for Edward, Bella doesn't give a poo poo. quote:He laughed, abruptly lightening the mood. “Oh, no! You’re going to have to work this out with him.” But then he sighed. “That’s the one part I can never be sure of. I think, in most other ways, that I’ve done the best I could with what I had to work with. But was it right to doom the others to this life? I can’t decide.” Unfortunately, this segment is where Meyer's writing problems start to come back. quote:“Yes.…” Carlisle’s ocher eyes were a hundred years away now. “Elizabeth worried obsessively over her son. She hurt her own chances of survival trying to nurse him from her sickbed. I expected that he would go first, he was so much worse off than she was. When the end came for her, it was very quick. It was just after sunset, and I’d arrived to relieve the doctors who’d been working all day. That was a hard time to pretend—there was so much work to be done, and I had no need of rest. How I hated to go back to my house, to hide in the dark and pretend to sleep while so many were dying. At its root, this awkward sequence where Carlisle seems to be acting out his own one-man drama seems to come from the same problem as Bella gaining miraculous insight into people's exact motivations and thoughts when convenient to the plot. Meyer has a specific image in her mind for everything and writes her dialogue scenes as if they're extremely exacting scripts, with every motion, innocuous action, and change of expression listed, crafting a film in your head. But she has trouble organically inserting something that would be better left unstated directly and left to the imagination and interpretation of the reader. Just like Bella tells us exactly what's motivating someone's unspoken actions so we know how we're meant to interpret the plot, Carlisle is reading from his own book out loud so we know exactly what Meyer wanted Edward's transformation to look like if depicted. quote:“It frightened me. She looked at me with those piercing eyes, and, for one instant, I felt certain that she knew my secret. Then the fever overwhelmed her, and she never regained consciousness. She died within an hour of making her demand. I like that Carlisle's dramatic, emotional transformation of Edward into his first vampiric companion hits a brick wall when he realizes he has no idea how you actually turn other people into vampires, so he's just "Let's copy that and hope for the best!" quote:“I wasn’t sorry, though. I’ve never been sorry that I saved Edward.” He shook his head, coming back to the present. He smiled at me. “I suppose I should take you home now.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcM9cWt7US4 Notice that Carlisle whispers something unheard to Edward before biting him. Peter Facinelli tried "I'm sorry" and "My son", but never got the reaction he wanted. Finally on the fifth take he said "You're sexy," which got Robert Pattinson to visibly suppress bursting into hysterics on film. quote:“I’ll do that,” Edward said. He came through the shadowy dining room, walking slowly for him. His face was smooth, unreadable, but there was something wrong with his eyes—something he was trying very hard to hide. I felt a spasm of unease in my stomach. Something consistent in Bella's characterization is when she shows how irresponsible and useless her mother was. Bella was basically forced into adulthood at a young age because of Renee's refusal to grow up and stop fluttering around to different fads and fleeting interests. If Bella didn't clean the house, it didn't get clean. If she didn't cook herself dinner, she didn't eat. Notice how not only does she cook all the time and volunteer for it, she's always trying to do the cleaning herself. It's what she always had to do. It honestly makes me dislike Renee even more. As far as we can see, she never once improved before Bella became an adult. She loves her daughter, but she was incredibly neglectful and seems to have been instrumental in turning Bella against her father, who was infinitely more patient and kind than he ever had to be. There's a good shot that most of Bella's issues come from how she was raised. quote:“I’m already done.” She smiled up at me. “How do you feel?” This, uh, gets a dark callback later. quote:“Alice,” I whispered as she headed back to the door. I feel worse for Jasper in this than anyone else. quote:Edward was waiting for me by the front door. As I got to the bottom of the staircase, he held it open without a word. I see we're back to the first book's relationship dynamic! quote:The silence was making me insane. Is this the first swear in the entire series? I think it is! quote:“Mike Newton ended up in this conversation because Mike Newton would be a hell of a lot healthier for you to be with,” he growled. Mike Newton is a perfectly fine young man! quote:“Don’t be melodramatic, please.” I hate agreeing with Edward. quote:“Okay. I’ve decided that I don’t want you to ignore my birthday. I’ll see you upstairs.” Unfortunately, editing can't get rid of the fundamental problem with Bella and Edward being the main characters. quote:“Let me carry them, at least,” he said as he took them away. “I’ll be in your room.” "I honestly deserved none of it!" quote:“What did they get you?” At first I forgot Renee had moved to Jacksonville and I was wracking my brain trying to figure out why anyone would be excited to take a trip there. quote:“I think I can handle it,” he said, and then frowned. “If I’d had any idea that you could respond to a gift this appropriately, I would have made you open it in front of Carlisle and Esme. I thought you’d complain.” Imagine dating someone who you can't trust to open your parents' birthday gifts in front of them without bitching and making them feel bad. quote:“Well, of course it’s too much. But I get to take you with me!” Okay that's a legitimately really good gift. quote:“I didn’t think you would let me get a piano so I could play for you here,” he explained. Just put it behind the fish in the freezer. quote:“You’re right.” I really wish the films played up the vampires casually using their super speed more. Again, for comedy purposes. quote:I took the pills he handed me without arguing—I knew I would lose the argument. And my arm really was starting to bother me. Again, make Edward a serial killer and much of his dialogue will remain the same. quote:“Remember how I decided that I wanted you to not ignore my birthday?” I asked quickly, hoping it wasn’t too clear that I was trying to distract him. I don't think Bella has even seen a penis that wasn't in an educational text. quote:“I don’t mind,” I panted. Imagine a stone dildo attached to a jackhammer. quote:“It’s a tie.” He grinned briefly in spite of himself, and then was serious again. “Now, why don’t you stop pushing your luck and go to sleep?” How about the rest of this book? quote:Trying to be sneaky about it, I pressed my injured arm against his shoulder, so his cool skin would sooth the burning. It felt better at once.
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Aug 16, 2019 16:55
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Okay sometimes this poo poo gets too weird. I'm playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Basically Pokemon Go for Harry Potter on your phone, including walking around to find stuff to add to your collection. It's a full moon and weather, time, and moon phases affect what appears in the game. I just opened the game from my house to find two battles, a vampire and a werewolf, right here from my desk.
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Aug 17, 2019 03:28
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Chapter 3: The Endquote:I felt absolutely hideous in the morning. I hadn't slept well; my arm burned and my head ached. It didn’t help my outlook that Edward’s face was smooth and remote as he kissed my forehead quickly and ducked out my window. I was afraid of the time I’d spent unconscious, afraid that he might have been thinking about right and wrong again while he watched me sleep. The anxiety seemed to ratchet up the intensity of the pounding in my head. Out of context, this sounds like she's waking up after an all-night bender at the Cullen house. quote:Edward was waiting for me at school, as usual, but his face was still wrong. There was something buried in his eyes that I couldn’t be sure of—and it scared me. I didn’t want to bring up last night, but I wasn’t sure if avoiding the subject would be worse. If you think she's lied enough now, wait till after this chapter! quote:We walked in silence, he shortening his stride to match mine. There were so many questions I wanted to ask, but most of those questions would have to wait, because they were for Alice: How was Jasper this morning? What had they said when I was gone? What had Rosalie said? And most importantly, what could she see happening now in her strange, imperfect visions of the future? Could she guess what Edward was thinking, why he was so gloomy? Was there a foundation for the tenuous, instinctive fears that I couldn’t seem to shake? That's a hell of an important part of the plot to just drop into our laps in the cafeteria! If you read Midnight Sun concurrently with Twilight you would have seen Edward's meeting with Tanya, but otherwise this coven (which becomes extremely important later in the series) is practically a throwaway paragraph. quote:I swallowed, trying to dislodge the sudden lump in my throat. The guilt made my head bow and my shoulders slump. I’d run them out of their home, just like Rosalie and Emmett. I was a plague. Don't worry, there's always ways for this to get worse! quote:After all, what had happened last night was nothing. Nothing had happened. So I fell down—that was the story of my life. I'm sorry, did we see the same event as you? quote:Compared to last spring, it seemed especially unimportant. James had left me broken and nearly dead from loss of blood—and yet Edward had handled the interminable weeks in the hospital much better than this. Was it because, this time, it wasn’t an enemy he’d had to protect me from? Because it was his brother? Because it was the second time in 6 months you almost got eaten by a vampire because of dating him? quote:Maybe it would be better if he took me away, rather than his family being scattered. I grew slightly less depressed as I considered all the uninterrupted alone time. If he could just last through the school year, Charlie wouldn’t be able to object. We could go away to college, or pretend that’s what we were doing, like Rosalie and Emmett this year. Surely Edward could wait a year. What was a year to an immortal? It didn’t even seem like that much to me. Our fearless protagonist just spent the entire drive to work hyperventilating herself into a panic attack over being dumped by a guy she's been dating for 6 months. quote:Mike interrupted my fantasy. “How was your birthday?” Mike knows. quote:Work dragged. I wanted to see Edward again, praying that he would be past the worst of this, whatever it was exactly, by the time I saw him again. It’s nothing, I told myself over and over again. Everything will go back to normal. I thought he liked baseball! quote:“Hi,” I said weakly. Edward and Charlie just sitting at the table, silently chewing cold pizza without looking at each other for 3 hours. quote:“Okay.” "Edward is being polite! He's never done this before!" quote:I tried to get control of myself, to reason with myself. What’s the worst that can happen? I flinched. That was definitely the wrong question to ask. I was having a hard time breathing right. I know she's thinking about being a vampire again. How would you ever come back to visit regularly? At a certain point you need to either tell them you're a vampire now or mysteriously disappear/fake your death. quote:I leaned my cheek against my knee, staring at the physical tokens of my parents’ love. I’d known this path I’d chosen was going to be hard. And, after all, I was thinking about the worst-case scenario—the very worst I could live through. It's taken surprisingly little to get her mind to start fraying at the edges! quote:I took my time coming back down the stairs, camera in hand, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach as I thought of the strange distance I didn’t want to see in Edward’s eyes. He would get over this. Probably he was worried that I would be upset when he asked me to leave. I would let him work through it without meddling. And I would be prepared when he asked. He probably thinks Bella is so clumsy she's accidentally discovered a way to make a camera really steal your soul. quote:“Hey, Edward,” I said with admirable indifference. “Take one of me and my dad together.” Stop just throwing your new camera around! quote:I went to stand beside Edward, and the arrangement felt formal and strange to me. He put one hand lightly on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arm more securely around his waist. I wanted to look at his face, but I was afraid to. You're going to break the drat thing! quote:Edward dropped his hand from my shoulder and twisted casually out of my arm. He sat back down in the armchair. Bella must be trying to get used to being a vampire by just sitting and staring into space motionlessly. quote:“I’d better get home,” he said. Bella has apparently decided that crafting a fantasy in her head is better than talking like an adult. quote:I put the camera in my school bag before I left. I tried to concentrate on my new project rather than the fact that Edward apparently hadn’t gotten over things during the night. Just talk to one another like adults! quote:At lunch, the silence continued. I felt like I was going to start screaming at any moment, so, to distract myself, I leaned across the table’s invisible line and spoke to Jessica. Or any day. quote:“Uh-oh,” Jessica said apologetically as she returned the camera. “I think we used all your film.” Meyer still has the problem of putting in entire paragraphs of useless exposition. I'm surprised we haven't followed Bella to the toilet yet. quote:I sat in the middle of my bed and opened the envelope with wary curiosity. Ridiculously, I still half expected the first print to be a blank. It's very healthy to maintain a relationship where you feel disgusted every time you look at yourself because of how hot he is. quote:Instead of doing my homework, I stayed up to put my pictures into the album. With a ballpoint pen I scrawled captions under all the pictures, the names and the dates. I got to the picture of Edward and me, and, without looking at it too long, I folded it in half and stuck it under the metal tab, Edward-side up. Now she gets the "first name only" treatment like your dad too? quote:Edward still hadn’t come over. I didn’t want to admit that he was the reason I’d stayed up so late, but of course he was. I tried to remember the last time he’d stayed away like this, without an excuse, a phone call… He never had. I hate plots where things happen only because nobody talks to one another. So much has been happening in the background that Bella is completely isolated from because she and Edward just refuse to speak about it. Again, she's been robbed of any agency in the story until it's too late. quote:After school, Edward and I were going to talk it out, I promised myself. I wasn’t accepting any excuses. This is the "grab the pepper spray" kind of red flag. quote:I didn’t answer. I couldn’t think of a way to protest, but I instantly knew that I wanted to. I didn’t like this. This is bad, this is very bad, the voice in my head repeated again and again. "And they're starting to question why a records search for 'Dr. Carlisle Cullen' brings up him practicing medicine for 75 straight years." quote:His answer confused me. I thought the point of leaving was to let his family live in peace. Why did we have to leave if they were going? I stared at him, trying to understand what he meant. Finland? quote:“Where you are is the right place for me.” Yeah, he's got a point. quote:“You promised! In Phoenix, you promised that you would stay—” Edward really has remained 17 years old for almost a century, hasn't he? quote:I stared, uncomprehending, into his eyes. He stared back without apology. His eyes were like topaz—hard and clear and very deep. I felt like I could see into them for miles and miles, yet nowhere in their bottomless depths could I see a contradiction to the word he’d spoken. Maybe this is how the first book should have ended instead. quote:“Don’t.” My voice was just a whisper now; awareness was beginning to seep through me, trickling like acid through my veins. “Don’t do this.” Not "good enough", Bella. Just good. quote:I opened my mouth to say something, and then closed it again. He waited patiently, his face wiped clean of all emotion. I tried again. She does not! quote:I nodded helplessly. Because that's the healthiest way to break up with someone! quote:My knees must have started to shake, because the trees were suddenly wobbling. I could hear the blood pounding faster than normal behind my ears. His voice sounded farther away. So I guess Edward only needs to commit suicide if Bella is dead, not if she's just miserable on the other side of the world? quote:He took a step away from me. “That’s everything, I suppose. We won’t bother you again.” You saw this coming. She was hyperventilating as soon as she thought a breakup could occur. You have picked the exact worst way to conduct this. quote:I was dizzy; it was hard to concentrate. His words swirled around in my head, and I heard the doctor at the hospital in Phoenix, last spring, as he showed me the X-rays. You can see it’s a clean break, his finger traced along the picture of my severed bone. That’s good. It will heal more easily, more quickly. As before, I'll be cutting this update in half.
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Aug 19, 2019 16:37
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chitoryu12 posted:Is this the first swear in the entire series? I think it is! It always catches me by surprise when I'm reminded that Americans consider "hell" a swear word.
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Aug 20, 2019 11:23
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The_White_Crane posted:It always catches me by surprise when I'm reminded that Americans consider "hell" a swear word. Mormons, so...
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Aug 20, 2019 14:24
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