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This is SO. FRUSTRATING. “Kate didn’t understand” my rear end. It’s obvious Kate understands completely because she correctly assesses Bella will push past her self-doubt to really focus her superpower and protect her kid! The writing clearly broadcasts Kate’s intent imo, with Bella the unreliable narrator assuming Kate doesn’t get it. A better story would have Bella recognize even a serial killer like Kate has people she’s hidebound to protect, that mother-child isn’t the end-all/be-all to the strength of familial love, and despite her newborn abilities and unique power she still lacks the experience all these older vampires have. It would be a moment of growth where Bella simultaneously grows self-confidence but checks herself on jumping to conclusions, because the latter could get everyone killed if they don’t navigate the Voltari right. But this is a Meyer book, so NOPE.
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Jul 29, 2020 15:17
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The worst part of that scene is that Jacob just stood back and watched instead of flipping out, trying to jump Kate, and getting tazed for his efforts. That would have been funny and somewhat rewarding instead of another episode of Oh, Bella, You Dumbass! We've had three and a half books of that so far, please change the channel!
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Jul 30, 2020 09:24
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Chapter 33: Forgeryquote:“Charlie, we've still got that strictly need-to-know company situation going. I know it’s been more than a week since you saw Renesmee, but a visit is just not a good idea right now. How about I bring Renesmee over to see you?” As if anyone has ever not been fooled by your lies before. quote:But then he muttered, “Need to know, ugh,” and I realized it was just his wariness of the supernatural that made him slow to respond. Yes, the good ol' days when your daughter just abused you, threw tantrums, avoided ever talking to you, and made threats if you tried to rein in her behavior. quote:“This morning will be perfect.” The sooner the better. I’d already put this off too long. An attachment that, I cannot be any clearer, would be extremely weird and disturbing to anyone viewing it from the outside. The guy can barely leave the same room she's in without violently quivering and diving headfirst through the window to get back at her. At least when the author doesn't wipe him from existence temporarily to fit the story. quote:“Probably.” There was no way Jacob would voluntarily miss an afternoon with Renesmee sans bloodsuckers. Okay, I know what you're thinking. What this is supposed to be is about Charlie starting to have a relationship with Sue after the death of her husband earlier this year. Meyer is just so bad at it that she's accidentally shipping Billy and Charlie. quote:“See you in a few,” I told him, and hung up. Every time the book tries to act like the new allied vampires are so cool and kind and good friends, remember that they're not only killing innocent people in the background but Bella doesn't even trust them to not eat her own loved ones. quote:“Why can’t we take your Ferrari?” Jacob complained when he met me in the garage. I was already in Edward’s Volvo with Renesmee.  Yep, there's Bella's "after" car. The model Meyer used on her website is an F430, one of their latest models at the time the book takes place. Along with her armored car, Bella now has the two most expensive cars in the Cullen garage. quote:“Too conspicuous,” I answered. “We could go on foot, but that would freak Charlie out.” Wait, the Volvo has a back seat. Why were you having her sit in your laps? quote:“How are you?” I asked him as I pulled out of the garage. That's the lamest, most immature way to describe that you're surrounded by murdering monsters. quote:I had to smile. The Romanians weren’t my favorite guests, either. “I don’t disagree with you there.” Let me explain the Romanians to you. According to the Illustrated Guide, the Romanian coven essentially ruled Eastern Europe in Roman times. Unlike the Volturi, they ruled openly and as evilly as possible. They portrayed themselves as demons and viewed humans as nothing but livestock and slave labor. When the Volturi's attempt at negotiating with them failed, they started a war that led to them wiping out the Romanians. The Romanians are the most evil vampires in the entire series. They are not merely murderers to survive, but psychopaths with delusions of godhood. They are, at best, equivalent to Stalin and Hitler teaming up. And to make matters worse, they actively want a fight. They're the Volturi's mortal enemies for a thousand years, and their simple presence could easily be enough to convince the Volturi that the Cullens mean war. Not only is teaming up with them to be "witnesses" morally reprehensible, they're the single biggest liability they could have short of attempting to preemptively dismember the Volturi to ease negotiations. These are the stupidest loving vampires in the world. quote:“How long do we get to hang out with Charlie?” Jacob asked, interrupting my thoughts. He was visibly relaxing as we pulled away from the house and all its new inmates. It made me happy that I didn’t really count as a vampire to him. I was still just Bella. Isn't it nice to know that all of the earlier conflict was all for nothing? That it would just be wiped clean in one page explaining all the stuff that happened offscreen? quote:“For quite a while, actually.” No? That was never established. He even actively fantasized about loving Bella just to troll Edward. quote:I just nodded, cutting my eyes to Renesmee. She was looking out the window, and I couldn’t tell how interested she was in our conversation, but I decided not to risk going any further.  quote:As we drove in silence, I squinted through the annoying contacts into the cold rain; it wasn’t quite cold enough for snow. My eyes were not as ghoulish as they had been in the beginning—definitely closer to a dull reddish orange than to bright crimson. Soon they’d be amber enough for me to quit the contacts. I hoped the change wouldn’t upset Charlie too much. Jacob stripped completely naked in front of him and transformed into a massive wolf. Your eyes going from brown to gold is fine. quote:Jacob was still chewing over our truncated conversation when we got to Charlie’s. We didn’t talk as we walked at a quick human pace through the falling rain. My dad was waiting for us; he had the door open before I could knock. It's been a week, Charlie! Is Renesmee's superhuman lovability that strong? quote:“It’s just the growth spurt,” I muttered. “Hey, Sue,” I called over his shoulder. The smell of chicken, tomato, garlic, and cheese issued from the kitchen; it probably smelled good to everyone else. I could also smell fresh pine and packing dust. Does anyone cook anything other than Italian in this series? quote:Renesmee flashed her dimples. She never spoke in front of Charlie. Yes, Charlie is borderline obsessive over a kid who never ever speaks. Presumably it's to fool Charlie into thinking she really is just a baby with suspicious growth spurts making her look exactly like a grown child, but that's going to last only another month at this rate and will fall apart completely when Jacob has to marry her. quote:“Well, come on in out of the cold, kids. Where’s my son-in-law?” Yes, this is definitely the time to be a smartass about a pack of superpowered serial killers and two wannabe gods hanging around town, just barely restrained from killing everyone you know. quote:I punched Jacob lightly in the kidney while Charlie cringed. Don't roll your eyes at your dad over this! quote:“Lunch’s on the table,” Sue called from the kitchen. “C’mon, guys.” Jacob probably wouldn't have suspected anything if you just kept up your cover. Now by acting shifty in the car, you've given him plenty of reason to be thinking about this when he gets back! quote:The roads were slick and dark, but driving didn’t intimidate me anymore. My reflexes were well up to the job, and I barely paid attention to the road. The problem was keeping my speed from attracting attention when I had company. I wanted to be done with today’s mission, to have the mystery sorted out so that I could get back to the vital task of learning. Learning to protect some, learning to kill others. How do vampires avoid speeding tickets all the time? They never seem to drive under 100 MPH and always in the flashiest, brightest cars. quote:I was getting better and better with my shield. Kate didn’t feel the need to motivate me anymore—it wasn’t hard to find reasons to feel angry, now that I knew that was the key—and so I mostly worked with Zafrina. She was pleased with my extension; I was able to cover almost a ten-foot area for more than a minute, though it exhausted me. This morning she’d been trying to find out if I could push the shield away from my mind altogether. I didn’t see what the use of that would be, but Zafrina thought it would help strengthen me, like exercising muscles in the stomach and back rather than just the arms. Eventually, you could lift more weight when all the muscles were stronger. So what Zafrina is trying to do is basically get Bella to turn her power off. Something that no other vampire has ever been demonstrated as capable of doing with their unconscious powers. quote:I wasn’t very good at it. I had only gotten one glimpse of the jungle river she was trying to show me. Oh, but because she's the Mary Sue she can start right away. quote:But there were different ways to prepare for what was coming, and with only two weeks left, I worried that I might be neglecting the most important. Today I would rectify that oversight. Will this truly be the most important? Stay tuned! quote:I’d memorized the appropriate maps, and I had no problem finding my way to the address that didn’t exist online, the one for J. Jenks. My next step would be Jason Jenks at the other address, the one Alice had not given me. You had no problem finding an address that didn't exist? quote:To say that it wasn’t a nice neighborhood would be an understatement. The most nondescript of all the Cullens’ cars was still outrageous on this street. My old Chevy would have looked healthy here. During my human years, I would have locked the doors and driven away as fast as I dared. As it was, I was a little fascinated. I tried to imagine Alice in this place for any reason, and failed. Remember in New Moon when you got off on these streets? quote:The buildings—all three stories, all narrow, all leaning slightly as if bowed by the pounding rain—were mostly old houses divided up into multiple apartments. It was hard to tell what color the peeling paint was supposed to be. Everything had faded to shades of gray. A few of the buildings had businesses on the first floor: a dirty bar with the windows painted black, a psychic’s supply store with neon hands and tarot cards glowing fitfully on the door, a tattoo parlor, and a daycare with duct tape holding the broken front window together. There were no lamps on inside any of the rooms, though it was grim enough outside that the humans should have needed the light. I could hear the low mumbling of voices in the distance; it sounded like TV. Keep in mind that Bella is in a city. It should be incredibly loud to her senses. quote:I was so bemused by the carefree whistler, I didn’t realize at first that the abandoned building was right where the address I was looking for should exist. There were no numbers on the dilapidated place, but the tattoo parlor beside it was just two numbers off. You don't delete addresses just because a building's tenants move out! "Welp we pried the numbers off the door, so we're officially off the grid and unplottable." quote:I pulled up to the curb and idled for a second. I was getting into that dump one way or another, but how to do so without the whistler noticing me? I could park the next street over and come through the back.… There might be more witnesses on that side. Maybe the rooftops? Was it dark enough for that kind of thing? Your first thought isn't to knock? quote:“Hey, lady,” the whistler called to me. Yes, we get our first African-American character in the series, and he's....dressed in a pimp suit and his teeth and skin are suspiciously good for the poor. quote:“Maybe you shouldn’t park that car there, lady,” he said. “It might not be here when you get back.” Being a vampire also apparently causes you to just lose all interest in protecting your things. Also, why the hell is she wearing this? Bella's never liked dresses and was going into this with no idea what it would entail. But now she's a Cullen, which mandates wearing expensive designer clothes and driving Ferraris everywhere. quote:The man squinted through the rain at my face, and then his eyes widened. He swallowed, and I heard his heart accelerate as I approached. Hmmm, where have we seen a black man like this before? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbeUorbvO_Q quote:“Are you J. Jenks?” I asked. "I'm much too white to be here!" quote:“I’m not sure what to do,” he admitted. Max is not present in the movie, which should indicate to you how important he is. quote:“Nice to meet you, Max. Now, why don’t you tell me what you do for the usual?” "Your kind." quote:I repeated the other address I had, making the list of numbers a question. Please just quit with the "I never lie!" and "I'm not good at lying!" poo poo. We're at the end of a 4-book series. It got old before the first one ended. quote:“Maybe I’m not up to any good.” I know she's supposed to have transformed into this sultry goddess in a sweater dress but it all just comes off like an awkward teenager still. quote:Max’s face turned apologetic. “Look, lady—” Sir, you just openly admitted to someone who could be an undercover cop that you're up to something. quote:I thought for a minute, chewing on my lip. “You’ve never seen anyone like me here before? Well, sort of like me. My sister is a lot shorter than me, and she has dark spiky black hair.” Bella is only the second white woman to ever approach him for this? quote:“J knows your sister?” Because if she did, then we wouldn't get to pad out the page count with trying to puzzle it out and wonder what mysteries lie on the other side of the door! quote:“Cullen, got it.” Finally, her super vampire brain is working again! quote:“Hey J, it’s Max. I know I’m never supposed to call you at this number except in an emergency.…” Think back to every time a vampire was around for a phone call and somehow didn't hear both sides of the conversation. quote:“Well, not exactly. It’s this girl who wants to see you.…” Everyone in this book is so stupid. quote:“No—” What the gently caress quote:No, it doesn’t. I’m not happy that you let your weakness for pretty women interrupt— Truck stops? That's the Mormon coming out again: the idea that foul language only exists in the filthiest, roughest places and not in every random high school and city street. https://twitter.com/danbanbam/status/1220541323641360385 quote:Max waited for a minute through another volley of shouted insults and instructions and then glanced at me with eyes that were almost frightened. “But you only meet downtown clients on Thursdays—okay, okay! On it.” He slid his phone shut. "I was told absolutely nothing about how to find you or what you guys are!" quote:“I thought you might be a cop,” he admitted. “I mean, you don’t look like a cop. But you act kind of weird, beautiful.” This is the worst motherfucker at this job. quote:I shrugged. Mormons. quote:Max cussed under his breath. “Married. Can’t catch a break.” This guy deals with the most hardcore criminals in the Pacific Northwest and he's this bad at everything? quote:I had to admit, I was enjoying myself a little. I hadn’t interacted with humans much besides Charlie and Sue. It was entertaining to watch him flounder. I was also pleased at how easy it was not to kill him. uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh quote:“You’ve got to be involved in something big. And bad,” he mused. So yes, J. Jenks is a guy who forges papers. If he's working with such major groups as the mafia or cartels, this isn't going to be a little side gig that he does. He'd almost inevitably be on retainer to a major criminal organization as their legal counsel. If he's that expensive and that high up in the underworld, why the gently caress does he has someone scouting out the slums for customers? quote:He gave me an entirely new address with basic directions, and then watched me drive away with suspicious, regretful eyes. Because obviously the criminal lawyer forging documents would make sure to have the most expensive, high-profile office in the tallest skyscraper in Seattle. quote:I pulled into an open spot and looked up at a tastefully subtle sign that read JASON SCOTT, ATTORNEY AT LAW. Yes, this lawyer doing high profile forgery for millions of dollars is operating under two separate names in the same city. You could barely get away with that in the 19th century, let alone 2006. quote:The office inside was beige with celery green accents, inoffensive and unremarkable. There was no scent of vampire here, and that helped me relax. Nothing but unfamiliar human. A fish tank was set into the wall, and a blandly pretty blond receptionist sat behind the desk. Preparing for our switch to Fifty Shades. quote:“Hello,” she greeted me. “How can I help you?” Horny. quote:“She’s just arrived,” April said as soon as she could speak.  J. Jenks was played by Wendell Pierce, who previously played William "The Bunk" Moreland on The Wire and trombonist Antoine Batiste on Treme (reflecting his native hometown of New Orleans). He's since been a highly successful stage actor, including an Olivier nomination for Best Actor for starring in Death of a Salesmen on the West End. You may notice that in the book, J. Jenks is not mentioned as black. Consistently, every character who doesn't have their race or national background specifically described can be assumed to be white. Therefore it's safe to assume that yes, Meyer really did write a white master who sends his black pimp suit-wearing henchman to the ghetto to sit on the porch of an abandoned building. quote:J recovered himself and rose unsteadily from his chair. He reached his hand across the desk. “Ms. Cullen. What an absolute delight.” How bad has this guy's Cullen experiences been that he's on the verge of a breakdown at them returning? quote:He pursed his lips, as if he were grasping for meanings just as desperately as I was. Yes, why did she do that? quote:“Ah, well, you’re here now. What can I do for you?” No you don't! He didn't do anything but say your name into a phone! quote:And then my smile faded. Alice had sent me here for a reason, and I was sure it was to protect Renesmee. Her last gift to me. The one thing she would know I needed. Still insisting this is the last thing Alice did, even though she's clearly been actively running around the world and sending them allies, including taking the leader of the Amazon coven on some obvious secret mission. quote:The only reason Renesmee would need a forger was if she was running. And the only reason Renesmee would be running was if we had lost. Yes, you read that right. This is a contingency plan in case they lose the final battle. Which means that if they don't lose, this entire chapter and all the J. Jenks mystery will have all been for nothing. You just got to read this racist bullshit for no reason at all. quote:It was as I had suspected. We couldn’t win. But we must have a good shot at killing Demetri before we lost, giving Renesmee the chance to run. The Cullens take no effort at all to just declare all is lost. In the last chapter you were starting to feel better about your prospects, and now finding out that a contingency plan even exists has you just spiraling back into depression. I guess BPD symptoms remain after vampirism. quote:Who would I put this on? Charlie? But he was so defenselessly human. And how would I get Renesmee to him? He was not going to be anywhere close to that fight. So that left one person. There really had never been anyone else. Why the hell would you make Charlie your first choice for going on the run with a supernatural hybrid child? quote:I’d thought this through so quickly that J didn’t notice my pause. Yes, the fact that Alice made a contingency plan by sending her to a forger is such ironclad proof that both Bella and Edward must inevitably die in two weeks that she immediately signs over custody of her daughter to her future husband. quote:His pen scratched swiftly across a legal pad. “Middle names?” Wow, you made it worse. quote:“I’ll need pictures if you prefer finished documents,” J said, interrupting my thoughts. “Mr. Jasper usually liked to finish them himself.” Wait, how involved is Jasper in this process? If he finishes them himself, couldn't he effectively make them on his own with his decades of sitting around doing nothing but learning? Modern IDs require pretty elaborate systems to produce! If he's finishing them, he's got all the printers and software! quote:Well, that explained why J didn’t know what Alice looked like. “ Bella begins screaming the entire concept of imprinting at him in a rage. quote:“Forgive me,” he mumbled, and the pen began scratching again. “How soon will you need the documents?” In case the Cullens' wealth wasn't obvious enough, they have millions of dollars just lying around the house in cash. You open a drawer to get a pen and there's randomly an envelope with enough money to buy a BMW. They're so rich, they don't even notice an amount of money equivalent to the GDP of Iraq disappearing. quote:J wrote the price down on the bottom of the legal pad. You didn't know what you were doing! Did she just fling a few million into her purse just in case? quote:“There.” Again, what did the Cullens do to make him so nervous? Has Jasper been loving with this dude? quote:“Don’t worry about it.” It wasn’t like I could take it with me. “So I’ll meet you here next week at the same time?” You prefer doing your transactions fully in public? quote:“Perfect.” Not that I would be joining him for dinner. He actually wouldn’t like it much if I did.  quote:I rose and shook his hand again. This time he didn’t flinch. But he did seem to have some new worry on his mind. His mouth was pinched up, his back tense. Oh shut up. If it's so bad, quit doing it. quote:“Then I’ll see you in one week.”
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Jul 30, 2020 19:00
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This scene makes it all the more obvious how James lifted it in 50 Shades when Ana goes to the bank and withdraws a huge amount of cash like it’s nothing, then actually has the bank manager help her carry it to the car like it’s the financial grocery store.
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Jul 30, 2020 19:51
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chitoryu12 posted:Chapter 33: Forgery Yeah but remember when Charlie was high fiving Jacob for sexually assaulting Bella earlier. He just likes seeing Jacob molest his descendants, I guess.
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Jul 30, 2020 20:58
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I have faith that Meyer has one last bizarre motivation switch in her for this book, so I'm looking forward to the Romanians insisting on a peaceful resolution during the climax. Or Renesmee brutally murders the Volturi while the Cullens coo at her perfection.
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Jul 31, 2020 17:53
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Chapter 34: Declaredquote:I heard the music before I was out of the car. Edward hadn’t touched his piano since the night Alice left. Now, as I shut the car door, I heard the song morph through a bridge and change into my lullaby. Edward was welcoming me home. She has her own theme music now! quote:I moved slowly as I pulled Renesmee—fast asleep; we’d been gone all day—from the car. We’d left Jacob at Charlie’s—he’d said he was going to catch a ride home with Sue. I wondered if he was trying to fill his head with enough trivia to crowd out the image of the way my face had looked when I’d walked through Charlie’s door. That first sentence makes me truly doubt the involvement of editors. quote:As I walked slowly to the Cullen house now, I recognized that the hope and uplift that seemed almost a visible aura around the big white house had been mine this morning, too. It felt alien to me now. Imagine having to tell all of the vampires that the reason you showed up sobbing and suicidal is because you learned that Alice planned for every eventuality. The book is almost done and she's just such an aggravatingly bad protagonist that I wouldn't keep going otherwise. Every time things get even slightly tough, Bella just immediately declares it all hopeless and surrenders to fate. quote:Edward turned his head and smiled when I came in the door, but kept playing. How is it possible for vampires to ever get privacy in a coven? You're all awake and can hear every single thing everyone is doing in the building. quote:“Yes. Sorry I was gone so long. I stepped out to do a little Christmas shopping for Renesmee. I know it won’t be much of an event, but…” I shrugged. This is your kid's first Christmas, and as far as you know it could be her only Christmas. Maybe save the wailing in despair and try to be a good mother for once? quote:“Do I get to see?” Maybe you should have thought of that before turning yourself into a perpetual motion machine? quote:Carefully, I fished the little velvet jewelry bag from my clutch without opening the purse enough for Edward to see the cash I was still carrying. Did he just assume she bought something with a foreign language inscription without asking the shopkeeper what it said? Also, yes: Bella's Christmas present for her daughter is literally her grabbing the first thing she sees off a shelf. quote:He looked up at me, his topaz eyes probing. I met his gaze for a moment, then pretended to be distracted by the television. This would be the first time he's been suspicious, because Bella's not lying to him any better than normal! quote:“Let’s take her home,” he suggested, standing and putting his arm around my shoulders. No it doesn't! You're causing widespread ecological damage! quote:Edward frowned at Emmett and then at me. “There’s plenty of time for that tomorrow,” he said. What a loving jackass. quote:I was surprised at how hard it was to go back to a routine that was, after all, brand new. But stripping away even that little bit of hope I’d been fostering made everything seem impossible. And now we get to have Bella go emo for no goddamn reason. Dragging everyone along in her misery. This is something the movie also fixes. When Bella arrives to meet J. Jenks, the only thing she knows is that he does forged documents. Theoretically, he could do documents for everybody in the family and all of them could flee right now. Instead she stupidly declares that Alice must have known that there would be no survivors, all is lost, Jacob and Renesmee need to run away to South America. In the film, Bella meets Jenks and finds that Alice has already set it up for just the two of them. Now her despair makes sense because Alice set up the contingency without her knowledge, and Alice herself doesn't look confident in their survival. quote:I tried to focus on the positives. There was a good chance that my daughter was going to survive what was coming, and Jacob, too. If they had a future, then that was a kind of victory, wasn’t it? Our little band must be going to hold their own if Jacob and Renesmee were going to have the opportunity to run in the first place. Yes, Alice’s strategy only made sense if we were going to put up a really good fight. So, a kind of victory there, too, considering that the Volturi had never been seriously challenged in millennia. Remember how you became so obsessed with Renesmee that you gladly let Edward get repeatedly injured to avoid her being shocked by Kate? All of that obsession with her daughter is now gone. It's back to being so obsessed with Edward that she's back to where she was in the last two books: she'd rather die than not have him. She will die for her daughter, but she won't live for her. quote:I wondered idly now and then if there would be anything for us on the other side. I knew Edward didn’t really believe so, but Carlisle did. I couldn’t imagine it myself. On the other hand, I couldn’t imagine Edward not existing somehow, somewhere. If we could be together in any place, then that was a happy ending. You were pretty sure about the existence of a soul a few months ago! This is probably another Forever Dawn leftover: a plot point that was resolved in the last book didn't exist in this draft, and now it doesn't again. She just swings to the opposite side. quote:And so the pattern of my days continued, just that much harder than before. If you're wondering if you missed something about Edward dragging Bella off to the cottage, you didn't. There was no reason for it. Nothing more important she had to do. He just manhandled her away from continued training for....reasons. quote:We went to see Charlie on Christmas Day, Edward, Renesmee, Jacob, and I. All of Jacob’s pack were there, plus Sam, Emily, and Sue. It was a big help to have them there in Charlie’s little rooms, their huge, warm bodies wedged into corners around his sparsely decorated tree—you could see exactly where he’d gotten bored and quit—and overflowing his furniture. You could always count on werewolves to be buzzed about a coming fight, no matter how suicidal. The electricity of their excitement provided a nice current that disguised my utter lack of spirit. Edward was, as always, a better actor than I was. He's not a "better actor", you just aren't even trying! You're just hiding behind everyone else! quote:Renesmee wore the locket I’d given her at dawn, and in her jacket pocket was the MP3 player Edward had given her—a tiny thing that held five thousand songs, already filled with Edward’s favorites. On her wrist was an intricately braided Quileute version of a promise ring. Edward had gritted his teeth over that one, but it didn’t bother me. It bothers me very much for a lot of reasons, the least of which is that you probably didn't look up if the Quileute have the equivalent of your Mormon poo poo. quote:Soon, so soon, I would be giving her to Jacob for safekeeping. How could I be bothered by any symbol of the commitment I was so relying on? Maybe the statutory rape? quote:Edward had saved the day by ordering a gift for Charlie, too. It had shown up yesterday—priority overnight shipping—and Charlie spent all morning reading the thick instruction manual to his new fishing sonar system. Finally, he has something to give him more satisfaction than Bella ever did. quote:From the way the werewolves ate, Sue’s lunch spread must have been good. I wondered how the gathering would have looked to an outsider. Did we play our parts well enough? Would a stranger have thought us a happy circle of friends, enjoying the holiday with casual cheer? Why do you care? Since when did you care about what others think about you and your actions? quote:I think Edward and Jacob both were as relieved as I was when it was time to go. It felt odd to spend energy on the human façade when there were so many more important things to be doing. I had a hard time concentrating. At the same time, this was perhaps the last time I would see Charlie. Maybe it was a good thing that I was too numb to really register that. In case you were worried about Renee having to be a part of this, great news: she's never part of the story again. Bella's perfect motherhood, the Volturi fight, Bella's unending despair for no reason, nothing. Bella's scatterbrained mom is irrelevant for the rest of her life. quote:It was very quiet in the car; outside, the rain was just a mist, hovering on the edge between liquid and ice. Renesmee sat on my lap, playing with her locket, opening and closing it. I watched her and imagined the things I would say to Jacob right now if I didn’t have to keep my words out of Edward’s head. So have him break all of the loopholes you used to keep your dad from getting hunted down by the Volturi. quote:I would have to give Jacob the documents before it was too late. I would give him a note for Charlie, too. And a letter for Renesmee. Something for her to read when I couldn’t tell her I loved her anymore.
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Jul 31, 2020 21:41
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It's kinda weird that the only use for the Cullen's wealth is to get documents forged and fill page space with wish fulfillment. Hell, use your centuries of chemical know-how and seedy connections to build some ACME napalm traps or something.
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Aug 3, 2020 15:56
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Even if Benjamin can't just immolate half the Volturi guard the moment they try to pull any shenanigans, I'd imagine just posturing with a fuel container he could easily chuck at their back line would be an effective deterrent. If Jane and Alec require sight to control their witchcraft, then Zafrina and Benjamin or Kate should be able to disable them if combat breaks out. Bella should obviously be protecting her strongest combatants instead of planning to suicidally charge what'd probably be one of the two best defended enemy positions. Or, hell, spend some of that Cullen fortune hiring a PMC to fire bomb the Volturi off the face of the planet if they move aggressively. Super senses wouldn't save them from an unknown attack if they don't even recognize it as such. Vampires that turned centuries or millennia ago wouldn't understand the impending danger unless Aro happened to eat someone with knowledge of modern warfare in the past century. I entirely agree that it feels like they're not even really trying here. The Cullens are obscenely loving rich! Fight dirty like rich people do! 
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Aug 3, 2020 23:28
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Malah posted:Even if Benjamin can't just immolate half the Volturi guard the moment they try to pull any shenanigans, I'd imagine just posturing with a fuel container he could easily chuck at their back line would be an effective deterrent. If Jane and Alec require sight to control their witchcraft, then Zafrina and Benjamin or Kate should be able to disable them if combat breaks out. Bella should obviously be protecting her strongest combatants instead of planning to suicidally charge what'd probably be one of the two best defended enemy positions.
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Aug 3, 2020 23:35
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I have to ask, do Mormans believe in the whole rapture/tribulation/antichrist deal like some of the evangelical groups? The focus on the evil Romanians seems out of nowhere, and reminds me a lot of Left Behind, another terrible series. Or she could have gone eeny meeny miny moe on a map, I don't know.
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Aug 3, 2020 23:53
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hyperhazard posted:I have to ask, do Mormans believe in the whole rapture/tribulation/antichrist deal like some of the evangelical groups? The focus on the evil Romanians seems out of nowhere, and reminds me a lot of Left Behind, another terrible series.
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Aug 4, 2020 00:28
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Wiping out the Volturi isn't even necessary - if they're truly just upholding order then Carlisle's dumbass witness plan actually works, because everyone goes home once they demonstrate Demon Baby's growth and self control. If they're making a power grab, then the Cullens only have to credibly threaten Aro's other collectors pieces and the Volturi legitimacy as peacekeepers. I still don't remember how this ends up going down, but betting on a contrived confrontation that works out because Deus Ex Alice is just free money
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Aug 4, 2020 00:37
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Midjack posted:It seems more likely that the association of Dracula and Transylvania with present day Romania was it. Oh duh. I didn't even think of that 
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Aug 4, 2020 00:44
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Malah posted:If they're making a power grab, then the Cullens only have to credibly threaten Aro's other collectors pieces and the Volturi legitimacy as peacekeepers. I would like to agree, but... *gestures at 2020*
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Aug 4, 2020 00:52
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Malah posted:Wiping out the Volturi isn't even necessary - if they're truly just upholding order then Carlisle's dumbass witness plan actually works, because everyone goes home once they demonstrate Demon Baby's growth and self control. If they're making a power grab, then the Cullens only have to credibly threaten Aro's other collectors pieces and the Volturi legitimacy as peacekeepers.
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Aug 4, 2020 03:29
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So the New York Times just did an interview with Stephenie Meyer about the release of Midnight Sun today. Let's see how she's doing!quote:What happened back then? Why did you decide to postpone the book indefinitely? So the first thing is that in her original statement about the draft, she said that she did know exactly what happened. She claimed to have made minor edits to each copy of the draft she sent to each person to help her identify the source of any leak. And I can easily see her writing style being "so easy". Her books "flow" because they're practically rough drafts full of plot holes and randomly changing characterization. quote:Without giving away any spoilers, is there anything you can say about what readers will learn about Edward or what new perspectives they’ll gain on moments in the “Twilight” book? Having read the draft, there are positives and negatives to the new perspective. On the one hand, it actually includes appearances by people like Tanya to establish the Denali coven's existence from the very beginning instead of offhandedly mentioning them a few times per book. It also tries to give more motivation to what everyone is doing. But what ends up happening is that Edward ends up coming off as inhuman while the rest of his family is a lot more normal by comparison. quote:A lot has changed in the world since the first book was published in 2005, including the #MeToo movement, which has cast a new light on a lot of our most beloved cultural institutions. Have you thought about how Bella and Edward’s relationship might be perceived differently today, almost two decades later? Ah, great. It's a fantasy world, so we can ignore her brushing off all the horrible things he and Bella did as "signs of true love." If you were hoping Meyer actually gained some serious self-awareness in the 15 years since the first book, sorry to disappoint you. It doesn't rise above "I'm sorry that you feel bad and that's totally valid, but here's why I'm not changing."
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Aug 4, 2020 18:52
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quote:There was nothing unusual about the outside of the Cullen house as we pulled into the meadow, but I could hear some kind of subtle uproar inside. Many low voices murmured and growled. It sounded intense, and it sounded like an argument. I could pick out Carlisle’s voice and Amun’s more often than the others. Once again establishing that there's no way any conversation Bella had within a hundred yards of any vampire could ever have not been heard by them, despite what the prior books suggested. quote:Edward parked in front of the house rather than going around to the garage. We exchanged one wary glance before we got out of the car. Oh no! He's in Alpha Mode! That means he'll actually do something! quote:“Alistair is gone,” Edward murmured as we darted up the steps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u6QAjMjtLM Just play this on a loop during every confrontation vampires have to get yourself in the mood. quote:Edward’s jaw tightened and he moved quickly to Esme’s side, towing me by the hand. I clutched Renesmee tightly to my chest. Don't bring your kid into the vampire fight! quote:“Amun, if you want to go, no one is forcing you to stay,” Carlisle said calmly. But Carlisle didn't pick a fight! Depending on who you talk to, it's either an elaborate recruitment scheme or a big misunderstanding. quote:“This won’t end well,” Amun growled. “Alistair was the only sane one here. We should all be running.” You guys picked some great allies. quote:“We’re all going to be slaughtered!” "Also we have some of the most powerful vampires in existence, including the loving Avatar controlling all the elements." quote:“You say!” Yeah, I'm sure the Volturi would love to have the guy who's currently allying with their immortal enemies if he offered to switch sides when losing. quote:Carlisle’s answer was soft and sincere. “I wouldn’t hold that against you, Amun. We have been friends for a long time, but I would never ask you to die for me.” How does Carlisle maintain friendships with people like this? He's so eager about protecting human life but he stays friends for centuries with people-eaters who will betray him at the drop of a hat. Hell, how does any vampire coven form and stay that way for so long? Everything we've seen about vampires so far (especially in this book) has them as impulsive, temperamental, stupid as all poo poo, and permanently locked into all of their negative traits. Newborns are so crazy bloodthirsty and full of rage that it can take years of constant monitoring (or locking them in a reinforced panic room) to keep them from slaughtering a small village. An otherwise normal argument inevitably devolves into them hissing like cats at each other. It sounds like covens of the size of the Cullens are unusually large entirely because vampires are such awful people. And Bella was excited to throw everything away about her mortal life and future to join them! quote:“I’ll stay, Carlisle, but it might be to your detriment. I will join them if that’s the road to survival. You’re all fools to think that you can defy the Volturi.” He scowled, then sighed, glanced at Renesmee and me, and added in an exasperated tone, “I will witness that the child has grown. That’s nothing but the truth. Anyone would see that.” The Illustrated Guide has Meyer trying to expand on their relationship, only for Meyer to gently caress it up completely. He's supposed to view Amun as a father figure, but is also aware that Amun wants to manipulate him into doing his bidding while also manipulating him through his incredible powers. quote:Amun’s eyes narrowed. He gestured abruptly to Kebi, and they stalked past us out the front door. Oh, and who was Kebi? His slave. They're supposed to be mates, but he selected her for her beauty and "loyalty" to be given immortality. quote:“He’s not leaving,” Edward said quietly to me, “but he’ll be keeping his distance even more from now on. He wasn’t bluffing when he spoke of joining the Volturi.” Why are we whispering? They can hear everything! quote:“No one can be positive; he didn’t leave a note. From his mutters, it’s been clear that he thinks a fight is inevitable. Despite his demeanor, he actually does care too much for Carlisle to stand with the Volturi. I suppose he decided the danger was too much.” Edward shrugged. That's very kind of Alistair to show up, have one or two lines of being emo, and then disappearing offscreen. Gave me a whole thing about researching the actor and finding a good photo and fwip he ran away. This is yet another film fix, one I can't find a clip online for. Currently, Bella is keeping everything about J. Jenks a secret from them; she hasn't even come up with how to give the documents to Jacob and Renesmee, let alone decide how (or if) she's going to spring it on all the vampires and werewolves that she's already decided that everyone must die so they can live. In the film, she actually starts writing the note apologizing to Renesmee for all of them dying...and Alistair catches her. Instead of just being written as a pessimistic coward who flees in the night out of nowhere, he realizes what she's doing and calls her out on it before walking away. quote:Though our conversation was clearly just between the two of us, of course everyone could hear it. Eleazar answered Edward’s comment like it had been meant for all. That's what I said! quote:“From the sound of his mumblings, it was a bit more than that. We haven’t spoken much of the Volturi agenda, but Alistair worried that no matter how decisively we can prove your innocence, the Volturi will not listen. He thinks they will find an excuse to achieve their goals here.” We had an entire chapter about this! Did you guys just not tell the rest of the vampires? This reminds me of Eclipse. Remember how obvious the twist was that it was Victoria behind the newborn army and yet they all had to act like idiots and pretend to be shocked when she finally showed up? At the end of that book, Edward read everyone's minds and told them that the Volturi had purposefully delayed coming to Forks because they wanted to see if Victoria would kill the problematic Cullens. Now there's evidence that the Volturi have ulterior motives, but everyone is just sort of squirming and ignoring it so they can act surprised in the climax. quote:Many low discussions began at the same time, but it was the Romanians I listened to. Maybe because the fair-haired Vladimir kept shooting glances in my direction. I hate to break it to you, but word will not spread if all of you die. Also, the Volturi have objectively been the best thing the vampires ever had. Setting aside any manipulations of events to get what they want, they're entirely responsible for vampire and human survival as a species. They settled all of the wars, got rid of the Romanians who were outright ruling much of Eastern Europe, and established rules that are strictly enforced to avoid any mass slaughter of humans. As much as Meyer is trying to set them up as secretly evil, the last two books have been so hardcore about the Volturi being harsh yet fair that they come across as the closest thing to morally grey the vampire world has. quote:“At least when we ruled, we were honest about what we were,” Vladimir replied. Again, the Cullens are allying with these guys with only a few weird looks to justify them not being happy about it. The guys who are gleefully mass murderers with delusions of godhood. Let me ask you this: what's stopping the Romanians from trying to just conquer the world with the Volturi out of the picture? They already tried once and were only defeated due to the Volturi having particularly powerful vampires on their side. The only thing that could stop them would be the Cullens and any allies who remained on their side after the battle. All the military technology in the world is worthless if one vampire can kill an entire air force base in the night. If a president is visible in public, they can be grabbed right off the podium faster than anyone can see by a bulletproof immortal. The Cullens are banking on everything going peacefully and the Romanians not trying to pull any bullshit. Because if anything happens except the Volturi leaving peacefully, it'll all go to hell. And they've brought along the two guys guaranteed to make that happen. quote:“I’m thinking the time has come to fight,” Vladimir said. “How can you imagine we’ll ever find a better force to stand with? Another chance this good?” It's not "eavesdropping" if everyone is pointedly listening to you talk! Also, why would they have no need of them? Maybe this is why you lost that war 1500 years ago: you found exactly one vampire of each specialty and had no backup, figuring that would be enough. And then spent 1500 years just sitting in your chairs in your empty castle, contemplating how awesome you were. quote:“More than we can afford to have them gain, wouldn’t you agree?” This is not how people talk. quote:I suppose it was a good thing; like Alistair, I was sure the battle was impossible to avoid. In that case, two more vampires fighting on our side could only help. But the Romanians’ decision still made me shudder. Someone revoke all of Bella's decision-making ability. The Romanians all but announced their plans and she's just "Welp, at least my inevitable hopelessness has backup!" quote:“We will fight, too,” Tia said, her usually grave voice more solemn than ever. “We believe the Volturi will overstep their authority. We have no wish to belong to them.” Her eyes lingered on her mate. Because Meyer thinks proper worldbuilding is for suckers, Garrett is a colonist who fought in the Revolutionary War and was left alive accidentally by a vampire ambush on his unit. Again, a way more interesting story than what we're getting. quote:“We stand with Carlisle,” Tanya said. “And we fight with him.” Yeah, that was somehow a rousing speech by them. quote:“We have not decided,” Peter said. He looked down at his tiny companion; Charlotte’s lips were set in dissatisfaction. It looked like she’d made her decision. I wondered what it was. Carlisle: "We won't force anyone to fight. All of you have your choice." Jacob: "As the Alpha, I'm forcing my entire tribe to fight and die if necessary." quote:“Children,” Peter muttered. Grow up, Jacob. quote:“Well, I’m in, too,” Maggie said, shrugging out from under Siobhan’s restraining hand. “I know truth is on Carlisle’s side. I can’t ignore that.” Ah yes, that discussion. I remember it happening. Don't you? quote:“It couldn’t hurt,” Carlisle said. Well now, Siobhan supposedly has this great power to make everything go her way even if she doesn't believe in it. And now she's just going "I wish the Volturi won't fight us and everything will end peacefully." Wouldn't it be weird if, after all this buildup, that's what happens? Her power was real all along and there's not going to be a climactic battle for everyone to use their awesome magic powers that we spent pages and pages watching and hearing about? I mean Bella said it was clearly all a joke, so it must be a joke! quote:That was the end of the dramatic speeches for the night. The group slowly dispersed, some off to hunt, some to while away the time with Carlisle’s books or televisions or computers. I love it. The dramatic confrontation is over, so everyone just sort of awkwardly shuffles off to watch TV or troll online forums. quote:Edward, Renesmee, and I went to hunt. Jacob tagged along. Weren't you just turning your nose up and snorting and grinning about how you're a big brave werewolf? quote:“They’ll be shocked when the infants save their superior lives, won’t they?” Edward said. Since when were Edward and Jacob bros? They were bitterly sniping at each other and Jacob spent most of Book II thinking about killing him, and now suddenly the Volturi has turned them into best friends! quote:This wasn’t our last hunting trip. We all would hunt again nearer to the time we expected the Volturi. As the deadline was not exact, we were planning to stay a few nights out in the big baseball clearing Alice had seen, just in case. All we knew was that they would come the day that the snow stuck to the ground. We didn’t want the Volturi too close to town, and Demetri would lead them to wherever we were. I wondered who he would track in, and guessed that it would be Edward since he couldn’t track me. Spend time introducing the rest of the vampires to baseball! quote:I thought about Demetri while I hunted, paying little attention to my prey or the drifting snowflakes that had finally appeared but were melting before they touched the rocky soil. Would Demetri realize that he couldn’t track me? What would he make of that? What would Aro? Or was Edward wrong? There were those little exceptions to what I could withstand, those ways around my shield. Everything that was outside my mind was vulnerable—open to the things Jasper, Alice, and Benjamin could do. Maybe Demetri’s talent worked a little differently, too. You're also able to block Kate's powers despite that supposedly being a physical shock rather than a mental shock, so let's just chalk it up to "Meyer is making this poo poo up page by page and not editing." quote:And then I had a thought that brought me up short. The half-drained elk dropped from my hands to the stony ground. Snowflakes vaporized a few inches from the warm body with tiny sizzling sounds. I stared blankly at my bloody hands. ....what? quote:My voice was edging toward hysteria, though I had enough control to keep it low. I didn’t want to upset Renesmee. Why does he sound like he's trying to reassure his wife that she doesn't have to worry her little head about the grocery shopping? quote:“But what if I can’t protect anything?” I whispered in gasps. “This thing I do, it’s faulty, it’s erratic! There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Maybe it will do nothing against Alec at all.” Maybe if you had kept practicing instead of letting Edward drag you off to the cottage to stare you dead in the eyes for the entire night, you'd be doing better! quote:“Shh,” he hushed me. “Don’t panic. And don’t worry about Alec. What he does is no different than what Jane or Zafrina does. It’s just an illusion—he can’t get inside your head any more than I can.” Yes, it's taken until just a few chapters before the end for Bella to actually start questioning why her shield doesn't have any consistent rules for how it works....and Edward has known for months and just stayed quiet until the eleventh hour for some reason. quote:He nodded, a faint smile pulling up one corner of his mouth. “The first time she touched you.” And now it's time for Edward to try and desperately patch the plot hole. quote:“Give me the least likely first.” Note that I said "hole" singular. This might solve the problem of why Renesmee's power works on Bella, but it does nothing about the myriad of other powers that Bella can or can't block regardless of whether they function similarly. quote:“That’s my theory,” he said. “And if she can get into your head, I doubt there’s a shield on the planet who could keep her at bay. That will help. From what we’ve seen, no one can doubt the truth of her thoughts once they’ve allowed her to show them. And I think no one can keep her from showing them, if she gets close enough. If Aro allows her to explain.…” Again: why? We've had it established that Renesmee doesn't just project memories, but can show exactly what images she wants people to see. When Bella was reading to her, she gave Bella an image of them switching who was reading to tell her that she wanted the book instead. There's no reason at all for anyone to unconditionally believe someone who canonically can put fake thoughts into people's heads, but everyone just does! quote:I shuddered to think of Renesmee so close to Aro’s greedy, milky eyes. The shudder: another involuntary human reaction vampires don't have. quote:“Well,” he said, rubbing my tight shoulders. “At least there’s nothing that can stop him from seeing the truth.”
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Aug 4, 2020 19:16
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chitoryu12 posted:Ah, great. It's a fantasy world, so we can ignore her brushing off all the horrible things he and Bella did as "signs of true love." Jesus, she's just an empty shell masquerading as a person. Which, I guess, explains the book with "write what you know" and all...
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Aug 4, 2020 22:35
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See, the thing is, I'd agree with her if the argument was 'it's a fantasy, not intended to be representative of real world relationships, in which things work out because they work out and they're in deep love because they're in deep love'. But the actual argument she makes, that Edward is not human and is 'curious like an animal', is like... a swing and a miss.
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Aug 5, 2020 00:01
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PetraCore posted:See, the thing is, I'd agree with her if the argument was 'it's a fantasy, not intended to be representative of real world relationships, in which things work out because they work out and they're in deep love because they're in deep love'. But the actual argument she makes, that Edward is not human and is 'curious like an animal', is like... a swing and a miss. Meyer's dedication to vampires seeming inhuman often comes off as an excuse for their bad behavior more than anything else. Bella is only 3 months old as a vampire and has already begun her "I do not know what these hooooman foods are, but I'm sure you find them delicious" and "I guess it's a normal human thing to use an umbrella and not just let my clothes get soaked for no reason" bullshit. Vampirism has just sort of overlaid an alien life form onto Bella's original personality. It makes the previous romance scenes retroactively seem even weirder and more unequal, as Bella is basically dating a monster in human form. Speaking of, I just downloaded Midnight Sun. Comparing to the original draft, so far the first two pages are virtually identical. The biggest difference is that she actually adds more text of Edward dissing Rosalie and talking about how she's insanely vain to the point of staring at her reflection in someone's glasses because she's such a shallow blonde, guys.
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Aug 5, 2020 01:04
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chitoryu12 posted:Meyer's dedication to vampires seeming inhuman often comes off as an excuse for their bad behavior more than anything else. Bella is only 3 months old as a vampire and has already begun her "I do not know what these hooooman foods are, but I'm sure you find them delicious" and "I guess it's a normal human thing to use an umbrella and not just let my clothes get soaked for no reason" bullshit. Vampirism has just sort of overlaid an alien life form onto Bella's original personality. It makes the previous romance scenes retroactively seem even weirder and more unequal, as Bella is basically dating a monster in human form.
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Aug 5, 2020 01:34
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I take all PR interviews as just that. PR approved interview. Maybe Meyers is super interesting as a human, maybe not, but the “author of twilight interviewed by the times” persona is indeed a bland individual who says tepid things about her monsters. Excuse me, animals. Wouldn’t want to upset the kids.
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Aug 5, 2020 02:11
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I just noticed that the Egyptian (thus, middle eastern) coven is the one with an overbearing, controlling, manipulative, and stubborn father figure and his silent mate, who is beautiful and loyal and was literally Amun's slave before he turned her. Of course, Amun, being such an egocentric and traditional man, is very upset that his 'son' Benjamin is strong-willed, speaks his mind, and is fascinated with the lifestyle of the (white, western) Cullens, going so far as to accuse the Cullens of corrupting and stealing Benjamin from him, who 'gave him life' and thus 'owns' him. Why is Meyer so racist
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Aug 5, 2020 02:54
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PetraCore posted:Why is Meyer so racist She's a white Mormon from Utah. The church declaring that oh wait no, black people have souls after all and can be priests, our bad, happened within her lifetime.
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Aug 5, 2020 03:17
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Imagine if Bella’s shield had unconsciously blocked powers she was uncomfortable with, and over time she begins to expand it, first by accident, then on purpose. That would get rid of the stupid plot device "Alice can't see werewolves" in the 2nd book. Maybe Bella has to learn not to block certain powers -- that would be an easy excuse for why Alice misses things. Maybe they spend 2 books thinking Bella’s powers relate to the mind, and they realize in horror that they're wrong once she meets other vampires. That could create a sense of urgency and uncertainty in this book's climax: what if Alice is wrong? I'm getting frustrated by the missed possibilities.
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Aug 5, 2020 13:31
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Also how is Bella able to expand her shield to cover others without also making herself vulnerable to their powers once they're 'inside' her shield? I know the answer is that Meyer hasn't thought through the power at all but it's bizarre that her power is described (and has the effect of) a geographical bubble. There needs to be some kind of spatial continuity for her to protect people i.e. she can't just shield one particular person without affecting anyone in between, the shield expand outwards from her. It might actually have been interesting if expanding her shield had made Bella vulnerable to powers within it that would have made protecting people not cost free. More interestingly would have removed the aspect of Bella that first drew Edward in and force Bella to confront having a husband who can read her mind and every thought. That seems like the only realistic source of real tension Meyer could bring in. Although realistically she would write it as 20 chapters of Bella threatening suicide and moving to Brazil over it followed by Edward saying he finds her every thought incredible and she's the deepest, most insightful person he's ever mindread.
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Aug 5, 2020 13:52
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hyperhazard posted:
The true meyers reader experience. Frustration mixed with horror.
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Aug 5, 2020 15:32
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hyperhazard posted:Imagine if Bella’s shield had unconsciously blocked powers she was uncomfortable with, and over time she begins to expand it, first by accident, then on purpose. That would get rid of the stupid plot device "Alice can't see werewolves" in the 2nd book. Maybe Bella has to learn not to block certain powers -- that would be an easy excuse for why Alice misses things. Maybe they spend 2 books thinking Bella’s powers relate to the mind, and they realize in horror that they're wrong once she meets other vampires. That could create a sense of urgency and uncertainty in this book's climax: what if Alice is wrong? That was actually my thought at first before reading the reveal. Bella was blocking Edward because she was subconsciously aware of how invasive it was, but subconsciously allowing Renesmee to transmit thoughts into her brain because she wanted that to happen. But no, it's actually "Renesmee is just your powers but opposite."
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Aug 5, 2020 15:56
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It's such a shame, it's like she has this great imagination but no sense of what makes a story interesting.
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Aug 5, 2020 16:00
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hyperhazard posted:Imagine if Bella’s shield had unconsciously blocked powers she was uncomfortable with, and over time she begins to expand it, first by accident, then on purpose. That would get rid of the stupid plot device "Alice can't see werewolves" in the 2nd book. Maybe Bella has to learn not to block certain powers -- that would be an easy excuse for why Alice misses things. Maybe they spend 2 books thinking Bella’s powers relate to the mind, and they realize in horror that they're wrong once she meets other vampires. That could create a sense of urgency and uncertainty in this book's climax: what if Alice is wrong? You could even use it to explain Alice gaps - its not that werewolves block her powers, but bigotry on her end causing her to subconsciously block seeing them in her visions, perhaps because its too 'intimate.' It could even be a potential driving force of an arc for Alice - the realization that Bella's hangups limited her and conscious effort to improve/control/be aware freeing her becomes a catalyst for Alice realizing the same thing and working to be more welcoming and accepting towards their allies. Hell, you could even have the climax be when she saves a werewolf's life in a battle because her concern for them as a person overrides her history of bigotry, allowing her to get a vision just in time to act/warn.
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Aug 5, 2020 16:12
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I'm waiting a bit for Midnight appear in 2nd hand copies but just had a look at the reviews on Amazon...looks like a lot of the hardback versions are arriving really scuffed up, damaged, poorly printed, &c., judging from the (UK Amazon) reviews.
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Aug 5, 2020 21:33
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I'm currently halfway through Midnight Sun. I went past the part that was in the original draft after realizing it had relatively minimal changes. This is the most frustrating Twilight book because it's the best Twilight book. Meyer's writing has improved slightly, just enough to have some legitimately good ideas and characterization, which makes the bad parts stick out a lot more. She seems to realize that she can't just keep writing Twilight forever and has taken advantage of Edward's knowledge to do all the worldbuilding and character backgrounds she skipped previously, like fully recounting how Emmett, Alice, and Jasper came into the family. The horrid characterization from Breaking Dawn is gone and we're back to the relatively decent Cullens who are much better characters than Edward. We even see Tanya make an appearance and get additional info on the Volturi. It all makes me want to desperately read anything except Edward and Bella's story. Like, more than any of the previous books have. Getting to spend so much time with the other Cullens just highlights how much of a sociopathic douchebag Edward is and how empty and dull Bella is. This book is going to be amazing fanfic fodder because it provides so much more information and complexity about all the more interesting parts of the universe.
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Aug 5, 2020 23:32
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chitoryu12 posted:I'm currently halfway through Midnight Sun. I went past the part that was in the original draft after realizing it had relatively minimal changes. In some ways that's worse than a truly bad author. It's like you want to scream at the book "Christ! With just a little more effort and work you might not be a good author, but god drat you'd be a decent one!"
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Aug 6, 2020 00:42
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I believe I mentioned that she is the best gift to fanfic ever. She wrote the boring characters in the interesting world. It's like she was trying to write companion novels for RPG sourcebooks or something.
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Aug 6, 2020 01:09
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Aug 6, 2020 01:38
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Oh my God. I just hit Phoenix. Spoiler without context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDDfJh6CkS8
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Aug 6, 2020 03:16
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Thinking about it, no one's powers have been detrimental, have they? There was a dude in the Bree novella whose power was causing everyone around him to feel nauseous and leave, but he could turn it on and off at will. There's no "well I burned my entire village by accident before I learned to control fire" or "hearing hundreds of voices in my head at once incapacitated me for years before I was able to tune them out."
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Aug 6, 2020 03:32
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Anias posted:I believe I mentioned that she is the best gift to fanfic ever. She wrote the boring characters in the interesting world. It's like she was trying to write companion novels for RPG sourcebooks or something. hyperhazard posted:"hearing hundreds of voices in my head at once incapacitated me for years before I was able to tune them out." There’s a fanfic by Das Mervin, the Das Sporking admin, and her sister Ms Hyde that iirc uses Edward’s early experiences hearing thoughts of others being his justification for becoming a serial murderer when he left the Cullens for a while in the 1920s. Imagine being in a city full of people and how many have ugly, awful thoughts in passing, then how many have genuinely sociopathic and hateful intentions toward other humans. If you knew someone was going to horribly murder a person and could snatch them off the street to never be seen again, sustaining your vampiric life, I mean, that would be good? Right? Meyer refusing to examine Edward’s relationship to his past and how he feels he could begin to atone for his actions - or even if he thinks he could - is one of the many missed opportunities of the series.
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Aug 6, 2020 19:49
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SUPERMAN'S GAL PAL posted:There’s a fanfic by Das Mervin, the Das Sporking admin, and her sister Ms Hyde that iirc uses Edward’s early experiences hearing thoughts of others being his justification for becoming a serial murderer when he left the Cullens for a while in the 1920s. Imagine being in a city full of people and how many have ugly, awful thoughts in passing, then how many have genuinely sociopathic and hateful intentions toward other humans. If you knew someone was going to horribly murder a person and could snatch them off the street to never be seen again, sustaining your vampiric life, I mean, that would be good? Right? And funny enough, that's one thing Midnight Sun does. It includes a ton of flashbacks for worldbuilding, and one of those is an extended flashback to one of his final kills, explaining his motivations for the whole thing and how disturbingly easy it was for him to find plenty of people to feed on as long as he waited for them to actually be guilty of a crime first. The book goes to some seriously dark places compared to the old ones and some more philosophical ones. It's really easy to identify a sharp change in quality and characterization once you pass the original leaked draft point. Meyer still did the Forever Dawn thing where she just took her old draft and barely edited it for release, but unlike this case she actually had an unfinished manuscript and had to write the rest of it after about a decade of maturing. The Bella and Edward scenes are still grating to read (especially when it recaps so much of the original Twilight that it almost feels like you could read this instead of the first one), but it's clearly on a whole different level from where these old novels are. I honestly wish Midnight Sun is where the series began because it more firmly establishes everyone's motivations, like how much Alice's visions influenced their decisions and Rosalie's horror at seeing a young girl willingly throwing away the mortal life she never got to have in the name of a teenage crush. Meyer does a lot to try and patch plot holes and awkward decisions, some of which work and some of which don't. We learn about how Carlisle's regrets over engaging in 17th century witch hunts and inadvertently killing innocent people is what drives his desire to atone by helping humans. Edward's telepathy is used to insert a ton of additional characterization for people like Laurent and Bella's parents, to the point where Laurent's villain turn in New Moon actually seems incredibly out of place now. That said, there is still some weird poo poo. Edward, in particular, is less overtly sociopathic in the new content but is still a sanctimonious, smug, emo jackass who's basically a walking cringe compilation. We see the entire baseball match in great detail with no cuts, which starts to get so long that you can't believe you're still on baseball at each new page turn. The attempts to patch plot holes or explain things that fans may have questioned get awkward with how extreme they are, especially because Alice is able to beam her plans and future events into Edward's brain so you can see her being a hyper competent schemer. Meyer got the new idea where all the Cullens communicate with Edward by thinking their sentences while Edward speaks out loud, which makes the conversations in the new writing really strange and alien. But the climax. My God, the climax. Meyer seems to know that this is the last Twilight she could ever write, and she was criticized for how Bella just sits on the sidelines while all the exciting stuff happens somewhere else. She makes up for it in a way that's so aggressively dumb that it wraps around to being awesome.
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Aug 6, 2020 21:51
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