This better work dammit
Sep. 16th, 2008 07:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kippurbirdChapter twelve pt. 2 (Take two)
Bella continues to lie to people she calls her friends and family. She calls up Jessica to tell her than she canceled her date with Edward to go to Seattle. Apparently she can't tell them -her, Mike or Charlie- that she changed her plans. They now think that she's going to be staying home instead of going out to Seattle, as opposed to what she's really going to be doing, which is going out somewhere with Edward. So if something happens to her and as she has no cell phone, they won't have any idea on how to find her. It's nice that she cares about their well being and happiness.
As opposed to Edward.
Or what she thinks will keep Edward just to herself.
Actually, now that I think about it, this is what Bella is trying to do. Keep Edward to herself. Or Edward is making her think she wants to keep him all to herself.
She hasn't signed a legal document. She's not getting married. Technically she's just going out with a friend. Admittedly this friend has threatened her life on several occasions and is utterly stalking her, but still a friend. Still a lot is off here. She has to keep on repeating to herself that Edward wants her to be safe. -Not that he loves or cares for her - but that he wants her to be safe. And mostly from what he's said, safe from him. Also, you have to wonder why she doesn't think about how come he keeps on telling her to be safe. And it can't be because of her "fatal" flaw of being clumsy. We haven't seen her really do anything stupidly clumsy despite what she says. She's able to cook and not kill herself in the kitchen after all.
Remember when I said a few chapters ago that something made me really hate this book? I found something else that makes me hate it even more. If possible. Meyers encourages drug use.
If you love someone, it's okay to try and kill yourself. That sounds horribly Shakesperean. But really, she admits that she's doing things that she would normally find morally objectionable just so that she'll look good for the guy. It's for Edward, so it's okay. This sort of reasoning makes it seem like if you were to give Bella a gun and say, Edward wants you to kill someone," she'd do it.
Perhaps I'm being a little over dramatic here, but she's actively admitting she's doing something she finds morally objectionable. It's unnecessary and it's done deliberately. The message Meyers here is sending is that for a guy, it's okay to do something you don't think you should normally.
And is this one step away from having sex when you're not ready?
Perhaps.
It could seem like that. Sure, they don't want to have sex until they're ready, but for this guy, well they want to make him happy because he's their one true love, so it'll be okay. And of course nothing bad happens as an after affect of her "gratuitous drug use." Which must mean it's A-Okay! To quote her fully, I woke early, having slept soundly and dreamlessly thanks to my gratuitous drug use. Though I was well rested, I slipped right back into the same hectic frenzy from the night before.
Usually when I take cold medicine I end up all foggy and groggy in the morning. I am not well rested. But! Bella is special and so it's okay for her to use the medicine without any bad side effects. And not only that, but her reaction is not one of guilt for having taken it at all, but a sort of shrugging off, indicating that she would do it again. She's willing to shuck off her morality for Edward.
And when Edward finally shows up,
My GOD what mood swing changes when Edward shows up! The only sort of relatable behavior to this that I can think of off the top of my head is the relationship that Alex has with his master Orion in my novels. Alex's life is Orion and basically acts like this whenever Orion gives him attention. Orion and Alex have a master/brain washed slave relationship. The way Bella reacts to Edward makes it seem the same way. She has no free will, no wants or desires beyond Edward. The thing is, Alex at least fought to keep his soul. Bella just handed hers over to Edward without him even needing to speak to her.
To up our creepiness level, they match. Edward is wearing the same clothes that Bella chose. Tan sweater, white shirt and jeans. Something tells me that Edward watched her get dressed and then chose similar clothes. Totally chaste and non-creepy stalkery at all vampire he is. Yup.
All Bella can think about is how she wishes she could look as good as he does in the same clothing.
They start driving, Edward letting Bella drive like he promised. This could either be because it's not important to him, or he wants her to believe she has some control in their relationship, or I'm looking into this too much.
Still they drive and Edward wants to know if anyone knows they're together.
You know, when your date is pissed at you for not telling people where you're going so that he has an incentive to bring you back, then you have issues. And she's more worried about the problems it might cause Edward than her own safety. This is not a good thing. The best thing is, that Edward makes it seem like he doesn't have an incentive now not to rape her. And he's upset about it. He wants her to give him an incentive. But she doesn't care because Edward is just That Much More Important. And so she has to make sure people don't find out that they're hanging together publicly, even if it costs her her life/safety.
Bella's "flaw" of not being able to walk two feet without falling and/or hurting herself is brought up again when they get to the park where they have to hike to Edward's place of choice. It's through a dark forest wrought with terror of tree roots and branches! Any number of things that could send Bella hurtling to her doom of a face plant! Edward helps her, proving that he's once again taking care of her and that she needs to be taken care of. That she's incapable of doing anything by herself.
They reach a meadow which is lovely, until Bella remembers Edward's beauty. Bella turns to him and beckons for Edward to come out into the sunshine.
ANND Cliffhanger.
An actually decent one. GASP
Bella continues to lie to people she calls her friends and family. She calls up Jessica to tell her than she canceled her date with Edward to go to Seattle. Apparently she can't tell them -her, Mike or Charlie- that she changed her plans. They now think that she's going to be staying home instead of going out to Seattle, as opposed to what she's really going to be doing, which is going out somewhere with Edward. So if something happens to her and as she has no cell phone, they won't have any idea on how to find her. It's nice that she cares about their well being and happiness.
As opposed to Edward.
Or what she thinks will keep Edward just to herself.
Actually, now that I think about it, this is what Bella is trying to do. Keep Edward to herself. Or Edward is making her think she wants to keep him all to herself.
After dinner, I folded clothes and moved another load through the dryer. Unfortunately it was the kind of job that only keeps hands busy. My mind definitely had too much free time, and it was getting out of control. I fluctuated between anticipation so intense that it was very nearly pain, and an insidious fear that picked at my resolve. I had to keep reminding myself that I'd made my choice, and I wasn't going back on it. I pulled his note out of my pocket much more often than necessary to absorb the two small words he'd written. He wants me to be safe, I told myself again and again. I would just hold on to the faith that, in the end, that desire would win out over the others. And what was my other choice? To cut him out of my life? Intolerable. Besides, since I'd come to Forks, it really seemed like my life was about him.
She hasn't signed a legal document. She's not getting married. Technically she's just going out with a friend. Admittedly this friend has threatened her life on several occasions and is utterly stalking her, but still a friend. Still a lot is off here. She has to keep on repeating to herself that Edward wants her to be safe. -Not that he loves or cares for her - but that he wants her to be safe. And mostly from what he's said, safe from him. Also, you have to wonder why she doesn't think about how come he keeps on telling her to be safe. And it can't be because of her "fatal" flaw of being clumsy. We haven't seen her really do anything stupidly clumsy despite what she says. She's able to cook and not kill herself in the kitchen after all.
Remember when I said a few chapters ago that something made me really hate this book? I found something else that makes me hate it even more. If possible. Meyers encourages drug use.
I was relieved when it was late enough to be acceptable for bedtime. I knew I was far too stressed to sleep, so I did something I'd never done before. I deliberately took unnecessary cold medicine — the kind that knocked me out for a good eight hours. I normally wouldn't condone that type of behavior in myself, but tomorrow would be complicated enough without me being loopy from sleep deprivation on top of everything else.
If you love someone, it's okay to try and kill yourself. That sounds horribly Shakesperean. But really, she admits that she's doing things that she would normally find morally objectionable just so that she'll look good for the guy. It's for Edward, so it's okay. This sort of reasoning makes it seem like if you were to give Bella a gun and say, Edward wants you to kill someone," she'd do it.
Perhaps I'm being a little over dramatic here, but she's actively admitting she's doing something she finds morally objectionable. It's unnecessary and it's done deliberately. The message Meyers here is sending is that for a guy, it's okay to do something you don't think you should normally.
And is this one step away from having sex when you're not ready?
Perhaps.
It could seem like that. Sure, they don't want to have sex until they're ready, but for this guy, well they want to make him happy because he's their one true love, so it'll be okay. And of course nothing bad happens as an after affect of her "gratuitous drug use." Which must mean it's A-Okay! To quote her fully, I woke early, having slept soundly and dreamlessly thanks to my gratuitous drug use. Though I was well rested, I slipped right back into the same hectic frenzy from the night before.
Usually when I take cold medicine I end up all foggy and groggy in the morning. I am not well rested. But! Bella is special and so it's okay for her to use the medicine without any bad side effects. And not only that, but her reaction is not one of guilt for having taken it at all, but a sort of shrugging off, indicating that she would do it again. She's willing to shuck off her morality for Edward.
And when Edward finally shows up,
I flew to the door; I had a little trouble with the simple dead bolt, but I yanked the door open at last, and there he was. All the agitation dissolved as soon as I looked at his face, calm taking its place. I breathed a sigh of relief — yesterday's fears seemed very foolish with him here.
My GOD what mood swing changes when Edward shows up! The only sort of relatable behavior to this that I can think of off the top of my head is the relationship that Alex has with his master Orion in my novels. Alex's life is Orion and basically acts like this whenever Orion gives him attention. Orion and Alex have a master/brain washed slave relationship. The way Bella reacts to Edward makes it seem the same way. She has no free will, no wants or desires beyond Edward. The thing is, Alex at least fought to keep his soul. Bella just handed hers over to Edward without him even needing to speak to her.
To up our creepiness level, they match. Edward is wearing the same clothes that Bella chose. Tan sweater, white shirt and jeans. Something tells me that Edward watched her get dressed and then chose similar clothes. Totally chaste and non-creepy stalkery at all vampire he is. Yup.
All Bella can think about is how she wishes she could look as good as he does in the same clothing.
They start driving, Edward letting Bella drive like he promised. This could either be because it's not important to him, or he wants her to believe she has some control in their relationship, or I'm looking into this too much.
Still they drive and Edward wants to know if anyone knows they're together.
"And did you tell Charlie what you were up to?" he asked.
"Nope."
"But Jessica thinks we're going to Seattle together?" He seemed cheered by the idea.
"No, I told her you canceled on me — which is true."
"No one knows you're with me?" Angrily, now.
"That depends… I assume you told Alice?"
"That's very helpful, Bella," he snapped.
I pretended I didn't hear that.
"Are you so depressed by Forks that it's made you suicidal?" he demanded when I ignored him.
"You said it might cause trouble for you… us being together publicly," I reminded him.
"So you're worried about the trouble it might cause me— if you don't come home?" His voice was still angry, and bitingly sarcastic.
I nodded, keeping my eyes on the road.
You know, when your date is pissed at you for not telling people where you're going so that he has an incentive to bring you back, then you have issues. And she's more worried about the problems it might cause Edward than her own safety. This is not a good thing. The best thing is, that Edward makes it seem like he doesn't have an incentive now not to rape her. And he's upset about it. He wants her to give him an incentive. But she doesn't care because Edward is just That Much More Important. And so she has to make sure people don't find out that they're hanging together publicly, even if it costs her her life/safety.
Bella's "flaw" of not being able to walk two feet without falling and/or hurting herself is brought up again when they get to the park where they have to hike to Edward's place of choice. It's through a dark forest wrought with terror of tree roots and branches! Any number of things that could send Bella hurtling to her doom of a face plant! Edward helps her, proving that he's once again taking care of her and that she needs to be taken care of. That she's incapable of doing anything by herself.
They reach a meadow which is lovely, until Bella remembers Edward's beauty. Bella turns to him and beckons for Edward to come out into the sunshine.
ANND Cliffhanger.
An actually decent one. GASP
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 06:29 am (UTC)ASIKJLSKH;FH[SFHSODIFH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That RHYMES! How could her editors not SEE THAT?!
....And...er...
....I kinda like Edward. In a complete "I know I am a jerky vampire dipshit and this girl is a FUCKING MORON and lets see how bad I an fuck her shit up." Sort of way.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 08:40 pm (UTC)And I agree, that is a worrying message.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-17 09:03 pm (UTC)Edward is completely a stalker. But he's definitely chase.
In the third book there is an entire chapter devoted to
Bella: DO ME!
Edward: MY VIRTUE!
It is rather hilarious.
Hah
Date: 2008-09-18 12:51 am (UTC)Okay, about Bella changing her mood as she sees Edward... her reaction is way too dramatic BUT I have to say that seeing my friends, family, and S.O. (typically after work) tends to perk me up, even if my day went well. I'm just pleased to see them. If my day was bad, I'll often be even happier to see them (so long as they're not the cause of it, which is rarely the case.) So I can understand the reaction, even if Meyers continues to write everything with extreme intensity.
But you know what? I'm pretty sure that's the only reason these books are popular... the false intensity. :P