Why Did Bella Choose Edward Over Jacob in Twilight
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What Redditors are SayingWhy Bella Chose Edward Over Jacob in Twilight
TL;DR Bella chose Edward over Jacob because she felt a deeper, more intense connection with Edward that aligned with her desire to transform and embrace a new identity as a vampire. Edward's selfless love and willingness to let Bella choose freely also played a significant role.
Symbolic Representation
In the Twilight series, Edward and Jacob symbolize different paths for Bella. Edward represents magic, excitement, and freedom, while Jacob symbolizes warmth, normalcy, and a traditional human life 
[2:2]. Bella sees her transformation into a vampire as a rebirth rather than death, choosing to leave behind her awkward human self and embrace her empowered identity as Bella Cullen [2:1]. This choice reflects her desire to be different and pursue a life filled with endless possibilities [2:3].
Edward's Selflessness
Edward's selfless love is a key factor in Bella's decision. He consistently prioritizes Bella's happiness and well-being, even if it means letting her go [1:4], [4:3]. His willingness to allow Bella to be with Jacob if that's what she truly wants demonstrates his maturity and understanding of love as wanting the best for someone else, regardless of personal desires [1:1], [4:8].
Jacob's Manipulation
While Jacob initially provides comfort and friendship during Bella's heartbreak in "New Moon," his behavior becomes increasingly manipulative as he tries to win Bella's affection [5:5], [3:9]. Jacob's actions, such as threatening to harm himself to elicit a response from Bella, reveal a possessive side that contrasts with Edward's selflessness [4:6], [3:8]. This manipulation ultimately undermines his suitability as a partner for Bella.
Bella's Personal Choice
Bella's choice between Edward and Jacob reflects her internal struggle with identity and belonging. Choosing Edward allows her to embrace who she truly wants to be—a powerful, immortal being with a sense of security and stability within the Cullen family [2:6]. Her decision is not coerced; she actively chooses Edward and the life he offers, rejecting the conventional path represented by Jacob [2:4].
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POST SUMMARY • [1]Summarize
the way edward said he'd give up bella if she chose jacob was so beautiful and true, love is selfless.
Posted by CuteProtection6 · in r/twilight · 4 years ago
ORIGINAL POSTthat's it, that's the whole post tbh.
And that right there is a big part of why I was always team Edward - he understood that when you love someone, you want what's best for them, even if it's not what you want.
The only problem is that he didn't really have a clear picture of what was best for her, did he ? Honestly after Midnight Sun I'm even more dad at him for leaving Bella in New Moon ! Damn it Alice warned him months before that she would be a wreck without him, and he left anyway ! Why couldn't he just accept the fact that he is a decent person and that she really truly loves him for ever no matter what ?
Also, wouldn't it have been the most cruel thing in the world if she hadn't loved him or had moved on ? When you're from a species that can only fall in love once and will never fall out of love, you should believe that every mated pair was destined to be, and that you wouldn't fall in love with someone who doesn't love you... Otherwise, there'd be a hell of a lot of brokenhearted vampires !
Him leaving is a bummer, but it’s not selfishly motivated, and I’d argue Jake’s intent is purely his own self-interest.
Bella falling in love with Jacob proves that humanity affects the “mated” pairs. Edward’s feelings were different than Bella’s. I’m not saying Bella’s were less strong, or temporary, but Edward’s not wrong that she could have loved someone else — because she did.
That would never have happened for Edward, and he was willing to accept that if it meant she could live.
Edward has feelings, too, and how he feels matters. It all just became too much for him. He has to watch her get tortured and almost die, then his brother attacks her, and he himself throws her into a table trying to help her.
It was just… too much for him to love her as much as he did and constantly be the source of her near-death. I think it would be a lot for anyone.
And while Alice does “warn” him, I think people really overestimate how much she knew.
Alice sees Bella sad. Who isn’t sad after a breakup? That happens. And isn’t better to be sad than dead? And if Bella being sad is reason not to break up with her, then no one is ever allowed to break up with anyone when it’s not 100% mutually agreed on.
Alice doesn’t see the extent of Bella’s pain (the length or the depth) or her “catatonic” period — and we know that because she asks Charlie what happened.
It’s a messy situation, and Edward leaving might have been misguided, but it was perfectly within his rights to break up with her for any reason.
(It also would have been totally within Bella’s rights and 100% understandable if she couldn’t forgive him, or didn’t want to give him another chance)
Jake’s actions on the other hand, could not be more different, imo.
Well Edward was 108 and Jacob was 17 during Eclipse/Breaking Dawn Pt. 1. Not an excuse but there would obviously be a huge maturity difference.
Theoretically, yes, but they also explain when they're talking about the immortal children that once a vampire is created, their development is halted at the time they were turned. So this would mean that Edward would not have matured beyond what he had done when Carlisle turned him.
honestly couldn't have worded it better myself. my bf is called edward too (lol) and he always tells me he just wants whats best for me, no matter what, and i'm just like. that's love right there, when you can recognise that what is right for someone else might not always be what suits you.
I never reread Eclipse because I hate that Bella realizes she loves Jacob, BUT I will reread the chapter after Bella and Jacob’s kiss just to read about Edward telling Bella that he’s not mad at her and he still loves her and he’s okay if she leaves him. And then reading Bella want Edward to fight for her… oof. HEARTBREAKING but also so wholesome!
Ohhh that “fight back” line makes me rage.
Girl, you just kissed another guy. It’s not on him to “fight” for you.
Pick a guy and stop stomping on his heart!
Oh clearly, but that would have been character assassination for Edward though... 1500+ pages of story ruined in 1 sentence. The whole series would have been done.
Idk, Midnight Sun made it seem like he’d like to always be her guardian/stalker, let her go in a sense, but always watching from a distance.
I mean.... What else was he supposed to say ?
"No, you won't. If I can't have you, no one can ?"
That's what Jacob says tho💀💀💀💀
r/twilight • [2]Summarize
My personal analysis of the love triangle
Posted by Icy-Help-4328 · in r/twilight · 3 months agoLove triangles need to have a bigger symbolic meaning to a story for me to justify their existence. A simplified example of this is in the Hunger Games, Katniss has to choose between Peeta (the boy she associates with peace and spring after winter) and Gale (who is holding on to justified anger and is associated with the continued vicious atrocities of war). She chooses Peeta because what she needs to survive after the war is peace and spring instead of holding on to hate.
In this love triangle, we have Bella, a teen girl who is in my opinion depressed, seemingly in love with the idea of death, and isolates herself from others. The boys are Edward, a vampire who is eternally seventeen, who she often associates with the coldness of his touch (the cold arms of death), and further isolation from her family and peers, and Jacob, her 'personal sun', the one who brings joy and light back to her life in the worst of her depression, he represents the heat of life (hint, hint. he is super hot to the touch). So Edward represents a beautiful young death and Jacob represents life and the joy it can bring.
By running to Edward and chasing him, she is choosing death. She is turning her back on life, the potential of growing old, and all the joys that come with that. She is choosing to give in to her depression almost. Did Stephanie Meyers intend to send out that message? I doubt it. I don't think she thinks too much about the implication.
But as a result of this little analysis I made during a reread as an adult, this whole series now reads as a tragedy and I find no joy in her romance with Edward. I want nothing more for her than to choose Jacob and choose life.
This is partially Stephenie's intention. Jacob was supposed to represent a happy, normal, human life. He's meant to be warmth - but not heat.
Edward represents magic, excitement, and freedom. Despite his cold skin, the way he makes Bella feel - and the way he feels too - is blazing hot.
It's perhaps also relevant that Bella, while turning her back on her human family and friends - none of whom she was ever very close to (except Renée who has her own issues) - is choosing to join a large family that, mostly, welcomes her warmly.
And it's also what Altruistic-Tie-6959 said. In Eclipse, Jacob is telling Bella what she should do and what's best for her. All the way through the book he insists his way is right and never apologises. Edward, meanwhile, starts out much more controlling, but realises how he's hurting Bella and resolves to let her make her own choices. By choosing Edward, she's saying no to doing what other people think is best for her and taking her destiny in her own hands.
I’ve always seen it as Bella choosing between versions of herself. The one with Jacob would be social acceptable role: live a life, have family but no deeper purpose in life. And with Edward it’s choosing who she wanna be, how she feels about herself - different, she always felt different.
I think if she chose Jacob, it would've made it easier for everyone, including Charlie, since he was friends with Jacobs father too
Yes, bot not for her. She chose being herself and happy, over being someone else for happiness of the people around her
I always saw ( and agree with ) the comparison of Jacob being life and Edward being death.
I don't think that Edward is as limiting as it sounds being the representation of death. Bella actually sees her transition into a vampire as rebirth rather than death. She's leaving behind Bella Swan-the clumsy awkward human who never quite fit anywhere in her life-and embracing Bella Cullen: graceful, empowered, gifted to be able to protect her loved ones in all situations. She mentions never feeling more alive than she did as a vampire. It was her choice and desire to become a vampire and spend eternity with Edward-unchanging and surrounded by a loving large family. She even has a child that she'll never have to worry about loosing. Realistically when it comes to vampires she has everything; the power, the family, the child, the husband.
I do think that she loved Jacob more than a friend, but had often pushed that love aside as she loved Edward more. That if she did move on from him and married Jacob it would always linger in the back of her mind. Jacob would be the more acceptable choice between the two. Her father is best friends with his father so their families are already close, she didn't have to leave behind her family if choosing to be with Jacob + she would follow the standard life plan. She may have gone to college, they may have gotten married-had babies and grand babies one day. Bella acknowledges this in Eclipse after the forced kiss where she mentions seeing two little black haired heads bobbing and running off to the woods. This would've been the easier route-like he says " Being with me would be easier than breathing ", but not the one she would've made if she had a choice.
In the end it's nobodies choice but hers, and she openly voices that she chooses Edward. She chooses to be a vampire-and that's not a bad thing per say. She's happy with her choice and feels most comfortable and at ease in her life beside Edward. I think it would be different if she hadn't gotten a choice in the matter ( like Twilight when James bit her-if Edward hadn't sucked the venom out ). I don't see her as frozen because they mention mentally they are frozen at the time they change because they're old enough to learn. The Cullens have gone to college before so they aren't treated like children in their day to day life-Bella and Edward could pass for a young newlywed couple or go to college together or simply travel to a new place and live together. They aren't trapped to high school.
I don't see Bella ever regretting her choice. I can see her like Emmett-enjoying her new life and the perks that come with it.
Nailed it, you described the assignment to the T👏🙏😊
Team Jacob fans tend to forget that Bella wasn't coerced into being a vampire. Edward wanted her to wait, but SHE didn't. She was ready to begin her next lifetime and had 100% chose Edward. Jacob was never a real choice to her because she never had a moment of " well...maybe..." it was always guilt that she was hurting him
See, I saw it more as Edward represented an eternal youth with endless possibilities and Jacob was a warm, intense, bright life but one that burns out eventually.
I had the opposite read in that being frozen at seventeen means an end to possibilities, stuck in that frozen moment. Jacob is all the possibilities that come with growing up, of finding passions (outside of boys), a job you love, time with loved ones, perspective.
Emotionally, Edward is stuck at seventeen so he'll never be an adult, he'll always be stuck a teenager (like Claudia in Interview with a vampire). If you've seen Interview with the vampire, you've seen how being turned young and staying mentally and physically that young forever is a tragedy. The new show definitely influences how I see vampires as a whole (especially teen vamps).
I definitely think that’s the more logical way to see it but I don’t believe that’s how Bella saw it, I always felt like she already felt old and tired and just kind of jaded I guess. Becoming a vampire would allow her the chance to start over again and again, be whoever she wants to be, not worry about any of the things she spent years worrying about and feel powerful in herself. Jacob and being human has her stuck exactly as she is, where she is, and normal. I think Edward also offered her a sense of security and stability, once the family loved her they would always love her, they would forever be her family and Edward would love her forever.
I think it’s kind of cool looking back on that concept because I know when the books were first coming out and I was young there wasn’t any issue in my mind about being turned at 17, I would have happily been turned at 17. Now as an adult I think back to how I was at 17 and thank god I grew up lol. I really don’t think SM had any deeper meaning to any of it though tbh
Claudia isn’t the best example though. She was turned at 5 in the books as I recall. Even the movie only aged her up to 11 based on Kirsten Dunst’s age.
Those ages are much different to be frozen at than 17.
This just made me realise that I subconsciously relate to Bella way too much
r/twilight • [3]Summarize
I realized what my BIGGEST issue with Jacob was...ONLY now😳
Posted by FearlessBookler1 · in r/twilight · 3 months agoAfter watching the first movie, I read the books right away, and everything was about Edward—which made perfect sense to me. Despite all the ups and downs in Edward and Bella's relationship, I never felt any hesitation from her. It was always Edward—for Bella, for me... for everyone, I thought! They were canon in every way.
But then "New Moon" came out, and the whole promo started with the weird “Team” thing. People began rooting for Jacob, and I could never understand why. To be honest, I never even wanted to. It WAS Edward — flaws and all. So I never even considered why I wouldn’t fall for a Jacob. He just felt wrong.
The other day, though, my friend brought up "Twilight", and we ended up discussing it… deeper. They asked me if I never liked Jacob simply because I didn’t have a crush on him. >!But that’s when I realized what really put me off: he was smothering Bella. He constantly pressured her, ignored and disrespected her decisions, and pushed her to choose him just because HE thought it was the right thing to do.!<
>!Yes, he was there when she needed someone. He didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t trust Edward. I get all that. But he never gave her space to breathe freely and rely on her own instincts... and well, her heart. It's like he decided that she wrong and put all the effort into making her see it his way.!<
>!Maybe Bella didn`t have to physically change (turn) for him, but she couldn`t be fully herself either.!<
>!I know Edward wasn’t perfect. He didn’t always initially support Bella’s decisions—especially when it came to her turning into a vampire. But he always tried to find a way to give her what she wanted with as little sacrifice as possible. He prioritized her needs and desires. He made mistakes, but his love still felt, to me, as selfless as it could be. And despite the discussions after “Midnight Sun”, I still think he loved and accepted her the way she was—and for who she was.!<
Just a recent realization that I felt like sharing with you. Maybe some will relate and agree, maybe not. Dunno🤷
Jacob was smothering. But that’s very classic behavior from a 16 year old boy falling in love for the first time. Not justifying his behavior but SM nailed it on how she wrote him. Edward on the other hand has almost 100 more of life and wisdom to him so he was a lot more selfless towards Bella.
You nailed it in the head. 👆🏻
People forget how teenagers think. It's erratic and borderline obssessive sometimes. And very very dramatic. 🤷🏻♀️ Even Edward leaving Bella in New Moon was very dramatic of him. Then you remember he's still 17 technically. The same with Bella wanting to be a vampire and trowing her humanity away to be with him forever. Romantic, yes, but kinda short-sited. But they're all teens. They all behave like it. It just seems more obvious with Jacob because we get a really condensed version of it in the movies. In the books it doesn't feel like he's as obssessive as often. 🤔
Yes, I agree that they were really dramatic at times. And it`s natural for teenagers. Edward did act in a more mature way. BUT even though he was over 100 y.o., he had never been in a relationship before. That is why he made a lot of mistakes due to lack of experience rather than because he wanted to decide for Bella and TELL her what was right.
I also consider the fact that Jacob was essentially a sacred protector of people from vampires… literally. That’s why he becomes a werewolf. That’s why the Quileutes have werewolves at all. I think after he turned and entered that part of his tribe, his hatred was more primal and ingrained into his brain, for a good reason, although his delivery and behavior was gross a lot of the time. Initially he was like a love sick 16 year old boy, afterwards it felt more primal and animalistic hence the obsession with protecting her and feeling like Bella was being taken advantage of by something he was born to kill.
Try telling this to the Jacob lovers. I haven't read the books in a while but to be fair, in the movies, Bella does lead Jacob on too. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Drop Jacob, stop trying to keep him around.
Jacob is very flawed, but Bella does more or less use him the entire time, often knowingly. She uses him to fix the motorcycles, to ride the motorcycles so she can hallucinate Edward - and at that point she’s triggering symptoms of psychosis to make herself feel close to an ex she can’t let go of, and using someone she knows to be infatuated with her to do it - and essentially so she doesn’t have to feel bad about hurting him after Edward comes back. By far the kindest and fairest thing to do at that point would have been to acknowledge her behaviour and ask for space from Jacob to allow her to move on with Edward and him to move on, full stop. She even admits to herself that she has romantic feelings for Jacob, just not as much as Edward.
By the way, instead of insisting that the werewolves were physically dangerous to Bella and that’s why she shouldn’t see them, as well as controlling and scary stuff like disabling her car, Edward should have sat her down with the benefit of a century of life experience and advised her strongly to distance herself from Jacob for the reasons above - she’s using him, leading him on and hurting them both. I know Meyer wanted to keep the Team thing going to sell more books but that doesn’t justify the behaviour at a character level.
I fully agree, but also she really needed a friend pretty much the whole series, and he couldn't get over himself enough to just be a friend to her and let her make the choices she's gonna make, and be there for her regardless
Okay so here’s a breakdown of why I am lenient on Jacob in this case, and these are all mostly opinions of course so feel free to discuss BUT
Jacob wasn’t smothering and broody and aggressive until he phased for the first time. Before he shifted, he was warm and gentle, playful and considerate of Bella’s depression. He was her absolute best friend. He didn’t hide his feelings for her and he was confident that if she could get over Edward that she would fall in love with him too but he wasn’t wrong - it didn’t even take her getting over Edward, she fell in love with Jacob anyways. Bella felt so comfortable and safe and with him that she called him her personal sun. It wasn’t just that he was there for her one time when she needed it, it was that he would’ve always been there for her if she needed it.
And then he phases. And this hormonal teenage boy turns into an abnormally hormonal spiritual being who can’t control his emotions and can’t control his body and has a literal evolutional and hereditary fear and disdain and murderous rage toward vampires. To the point where even the smell of them is so disgusting that it burns his nose and gives him headaches. And the girl he loves is in love with his mortal enemy. And wants to become one. This fate is literally worse than death to him.
Like he sucks and his behavior sucks but it is so on par with his age and overall who he is and what he’s going through and what he is going through SUCKS. And I just feel so much for him. If it wasn’t for Edward and the existence of vampires he wouldn’t have become a wolf and would’ve ended up with Bella. I agree that she deserves better than alla that but don’t blame him for not being able to keep it all together.
all this makes sense but i cannot get over him kissing her without permission, then manipulating her into kissing him again by threatening to get himself killed in battle in eclipse
Yes and that's what worries me the most for her future, if suppose bella gave in to Jacob's demands, won't he always have the leverage of threatening her to stay with him if she changed her mind later? Another issue is the power dynamic between human bella and wolf Jacob who knows what's best for her(another Edward) telling her how she should feel and cut Cullens out of her life because they all are filthy bloodsuckers leech.
Yep, disrespecting her and trying to force her to do what he thought was best is pretty much exactly it.
He knows he's being awful, but he fully believes it's justified because Bella isn't competent to make her own decisions and he knows what she really wants. You know, the thing she's explicitly said multiple times that she doesn't want. He knows she's lying to herself. And she'll be so much better off if he can make her see that. Whatever it takes. For her own good.
Exactly! He was forcing himself upon Bella way too much. And she felt sorry for for him, and she was grateful to him that`s why couldn`t just tell him to back off.
r/twilight • [4]Summarize
Why did Edward let Bella get so cozy with Jacob right in front of his eyes
Posted by adrianaserret1 · in r/twilight · 4 years agook I’m rewatching the movies for the 1810020220th time and i’m currently by Eclipse. While I respect Edward isn’t a psycho possessive boyfriend, he literally set no boundaries for Bella when it came to Jacob (I also understand she might’ve actually been in love with both but it’s uh, such a sucky predicament for everyone involved?!?). That scene in Eclipse where Jake overhears that Bella and Edward are getting married and he takes off furiously, Bella chases after him and they start making out while Edward is legit down the hill?! I don’t know this has always made me so uncomfortable lmao just needed to share and see if anyone feels the same way ���� also I’ve always been team Edward from the moment I read the books so maybe I’m a little biased and I hate seeing Bella with anyone but him.
Edward says her feelings for Jacob were legitimate and his fault. They only existed because he left her. Jacob got her to kiss him not by professing love so much as saying he was going to off and commit suicide by vampire because of her. It was a huge manipulation.
Edward also implies its a game and Jacob was more sly than he expected. Jacob says sort of the same thing while recovering. Jacob implied the good guy act was Edward's version of playing dirty because it made Bella feel worse and like him more.
I really wish we knew if it was just regular self loathing that had Edward so calm or if the guys were just playing games.
Plus. He also said if she asked he'd let her.
i think Edward’s self loathing played a huge factor! i think jacob loved her too but not as much as edward. it seems more like infatuation than anything else.
I agree, I also think Edward honestly just loves her so much he just wants her to be happy. So he’ll “let her” be with Jacob if that’s what she wants, even though it hurts him.
Bc he is Edward. Aside from him hoping Bella would pick what he thinks is the "healthier" choice, he wouldn't want to take things away from her. He didn't want to cause her any pain, even if it's actually reasonable for him to set boundaries.
Yes, exactly! I also hate the part where she kisses Jacob basically in front of Edward...and Edward understands bc that’s just how he is and part of why we love him.
Yesssssss. I hate how Edward's feelings were glossed over in Eclipse and BD. It was always Jacob this, Jacob that. Ughhh, come on, Bella, your man is hurting, too.
Even during New Moon to Eclipse, he never once talked about his own pain. Leaving her and thinking she was dead. It was always about making it up to her.
My boy ������
I think it's all because Edward was convinced he was bad for Bella, and at that point still really didn't want her to change. I think he would have been happy on some level had she chosen Jacob.
that’s a really good point, it’s just like when he disappeared in new moon bc he couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to bella bc of him
In the books, Edward saw their kiss an inevitable. He read his mind and knew Jake was literally going to do whatever it took to get the kiss. Say whatever it took and do whatever it took. Edward knew that Bella is weak to Jacob's manipulation and would have fallen for it, so he let it run it's course. There was nothing he could do really.
hate the triangle, it's rubbish
r/twilight • [5]Summarize
Jacob was actually likeable before Edward came back to Forks
Posted by lanwangjisus · in r/twilight · 3 years agoI'm rereading the entire saga after years and I've never really cared for Jacob's character just because I always knew from the start that Edward and Bella would still end up together.
However, as I got to New Moon, I paid more attention to him. He's actually pretty cool when Bella and he were starting to get close, I could see why people would root for him. I started the book after reading Midnight Sun so there I could see the huge contrast between Edward and Jacob's character. It was so refreshing to read Jacob's lighthearted personality after 600 pages of Edward's brooding one (no hate, I love broody Edward). Their relationship dynamic with Bella is also different, with Edward, everything is intense; with Jacob, everything's lighter and fun.
I think he would've been one of my favorite characters if he stayed this way all throughout the saga but we all know what happens after he finally shifts. Such a shame, really. I've read plenty of arguments and standpoints about how horrible Jacob is to Bella and it's disappointing to see that his character ended up like that.
I really wonder what could've happened if Meyer had gone through a different route with him, one where he was justly redeemed as the once lovable character he was.
I love pre-wolf Jacob so much. I was Team Jacob when I was 13 and read the books because he was there for Bella in her heartbreak. She says she doesn’t like music anymore and he’s like okay no music. In the books, he knows mentioning Edward upsets her and she notices he avoids doing so. He is understanding, no judgment and doesn’t push her. Opens up the conversation of how he likes her and feels like she likes him back and when she says she doesn’t want him to go anywhere but she can’t ever love him, he’s like okay sure because he knows she’s capable of healing and cares enough to wait and see and be there for her the whole time.
I fully believe that if Jacob hadn’t had the gene to be a wolf, if she never would’ve jumped off the cliff and therefore Alice never had a vision of her dying, her and Jacob could have lived happily ever after.
Of course I don’t care either way because I love Bella and Edward but I also still love pre-wolf Jake lol
When I read the series at 11 I was Team Jacob because I loved how Bella acted around him - she was more of a person around him; I think she even saw her other friends when she didn’t hang out with Jacob. And, they weren’t on pins and needles around each other. He was her “sunshine” and I felt it, and I liked it more than the “heroin addict” feel of the Bella/Edward relationship.
If the series stopped there (which it did in my mind, I refuse to think about the last two books), I think Team Jacob would be a much more viable option and the debate wouldn’t lean so heavily and obviously towards Edward.
I agree with your points and I also think that if the series stopped there I would argue that Jacob deserved Bella more. Their relationship in New Moon (with pre-wolf Jacob, at least) is definitely healthier than what Bella had with Edward in Twilight.
It's easy to be likable when you have no competition. When you aren't fighting for the girl you love with another guy. This is why I prefer edward. Even as early as the theater you can see how jacob reacts to competition with the way he treated Mike. So the way he treated edward and bella was never a mystery... only getting worse and worse until after her wedding/honeymoon.. edward on the other hand hated the idea of losing bella but would have allowed it if she chose jacob. He was bad at first but the more competition he had the more humble it made him.
That’s such a good point jacob could not allow Bella to choose Edward, but Edward would have respectfully walked away if Bella chose jacob
My issue with Jacob, NM included, is that he’s always got his eyes on eventually manipulating her into a romantic relationship. He was never her friend, he was “on deck” waiting for his shot. And that’s just distasteful to me. Jacob himself confirms this with the “I had a plan” conversation with Edward about when he was remembering the NM days with Bella in their tent conversation.
He was always a “friend” to someone really hurting with the ulterior motive of getting her himself, and when he lost that shot, he turned into a jerk to her overtly who then tried more and more messed up ways to manipulate her in Eclipse.
I'm still in the middle of New Moon so I'd have to reread Eclipse to infer this. It really sucks if that's the case, though. Maybe he wasn't really as genuine as we thought.
I've never been able to put into words what it was about him in New Moon that I hated so much. Before he transformed he was a nice guy. Then years later I realized no, he was a Nice Guy.
I was pretty pro-Jacob until I had my first "nice guy" experience. I was in college and had a boyfriend at a different school but was going through a tough time and needed a friend. The dude was there and super supportive and I tried to maintain good boundaries. He dropped me as soon as he got a girlfriend then after they broke up I heard from a different friend that he still thought he had a chance with me.
Bella needed a friend and Jacob was a good friend but it definitely seems like he was just biding his time. Sure, turning into a werewolf made him worse but I doubt those thoughts and intentions weren't always there. While he didn't treat Bella like she was made of glass the way Edward did, he was still controlling, possessive, and thought he knew what was best for her better than she did. At least with Edward she actually wanted him.
The one thing I have about shipping Jacob and Bella together is that pre-wolf Jacob and post-transformation Jacob are entirely different characters. The person they're arguing Bella should end up with doesn't exist. Once Jacob shifts he loses the qualities that made Bella happy. I think a lot of her relationship with Jacob from Eclipse on is her and him chasing what they once had before he changed.
That is true. I think those who ship Bella and Jacob are holding on to their relationship pre-wolf era. However, after that, everything goes downhill.
I love your perspective on Jacob's motivation in Eclipse. I've never seen it that way as I always saw it as him trying to prove to Bella that he's a better choice than Edward.
Yeah I blame this on Meyer. I don't even consider post Wolf Jacob (fyi: I consider this the moment he gets mad at Mike; that's when his anger issues show up and is the same night he transforms) as actual Jacob; it's nothing like him until maybe Breaking Dawn where he imprints on Renesmee. It's like someone on a drug/under some type of influence (I mean the transformation literally caused him to have some physical/biological changes that made him act more aggressive and lose some of his free will; this isn't Jacob anymore, these are other influences messing with his brain/nervous system and thus messing with his personality and behavior). Let's be honest; Meyer does this to make Edward the obvious choice between the two and to get readers to root for him and Bella while using Jacob as an excuse for why the pack will help out Bella and the Cullens whenever they are in a pickle. Jacob is barely a character with his own meaning at this point; it's just how he can benefit the story line and/or Bella.
r/twilight • [6]Summarize
Jacob never worked as a love interest, he should’ve been written as a villain
Posted by alexfleur · in r/twilight · 21 days agoJacob being introduced as relief for Bella’s depression in New Moon made sense. But the budding romance should’ve been squashed and buried by the end of that book. Jacob chose his tribe and Bella chose Edward. That’s what happened, but it only shifted on Jacob’s side when he refused to let her go and his pack got tangled up with the Cullens.
There was never really a love triangle. Bella wholeheartedly chose Edward. She only ever pitied Jacob. Without that weird coerced kiss at the end of Eclipse, the so-called romance between Bella and Jacob was basically nonexistent. Edward wasn’t even openly jealous of Jacob or resentful toward Bella, which felt unrealistic and like a missed opportunity for real conflict between the main characters.
To me, Jacob was a plot device in New Moon that got dragged out unnaturally as a romantic focal point in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, which was a huge misstep. Meyer clearly had no idea how to resolve his character after Bella fully rejected him, so Breaking Dawn ended up centering on giving Jacob a “happy ending.” The result was the bizarre sci-fi fairytale of imprinting on Renesmee.
Honestly, Jacob would have made a lot more sense as a villain. His bitterness, possessiveness, and inability to let Bella go could have set up a much more compelling arc if the pack had actually turned on Bella and the Cullens the way they almost did in Breaking Dawn. That storyline would have felt more organic and truer to the nature of the two “monsters.” Bella being caught in the middle of that would have been interesting. Instead she was caught in the middle of an unrequited romance, which just came across as weird.
And continuing on how unrealistic Breaking Dawn was, Edward being able to sire a child makes absolutely no sense in the context of how Meyer described vampires. His semen should have been venom. Bella couldn’t realistically have sex with stone. To be fair, I never meshed with Meyer’s whole concept of vampires. The sparkly stone bodies made things like sex and pregnancy seem completely implausible. She needed to alter her description of what a vampire was earlier in the series to prime the reader into believing pregnancy was possible. Someone even posted a screenshot of Meyer’s website explaining the biology of vampires and how they store sperm from when they were human (something like that), but that’s contradictory because another vampire fathered multiple hybrid children.
Basically Breaking Dawn was disappointing and Jacob was a huge dead weight in the series. I think the publisher probably pushed Meyer to make it a love triangle because that trope sells in YA, but she never fully committed to it. Bella always chose Edward. I love the series, but I think it went off track after New Moon. I’m just an OG reader who recently reread the series for the countless time and I’m looking at with a literary critical lense as someone who also writes and reads lots of fiction.
Why does everyone who hates Hacob literally glass over the fact that Bella admitted at the end of Eclipse when she visited him when he was injured after the newborn battle and admitted she was IN love with him. He was the natural path her life would have taken if Edward never existed. She cried buckets after she left as she grieved fir what could have been. Even Edward questioned her decision. Jeez 🙄
Jacob is not a good person. He’s sixteen, sure, so he can grow up to become a better man, but in Eclipse he’s not good.
He pushed Bella and pushed Bella and pushed Bella and pushed Bella to “accept her feelings” that “she’s in love with him” that he “knows she feels the same way!” Etc and etc and etc
Sorry not sorry but I don’t consider Bella “admitting” her feelings when she’s been pressed for months with Jacob saying in her ear “you love me, admit you like me, I know you like me, why won’t you admit you like me?” That’s fucking manipulative.
Bella chose Edward. Bella told Jacob no multiple times. Jacob needs to grow the fuck up and learn what “no”means.
Bella is not so innocent. She should have left Jacob alone like he wanted when Edward came back at the end of New Moon. But she kept pushing and pushing, sending notes back and forth, phoning Jacob, even when he explicitly told her he needed space. She went to see him, kept holding his hand, giving him countless mixed signals and messing with his head.
Idk maybe because she “realized” this love while being sexually assaulted by him for the second time. I mostly take issue with the way Jacob is written. If he was meant to be a sympathetic character and I was meant to relate to or pity him, he shouldn’t have been written so aggressive, possessive, and just gross. It’s hard to want Jacob and Bella to be together after having to read about him trying to force his tongue into her mouth while she mentally and emotionally shuts down waiting for it to be over as he’s got a death grip on her chin. Then he coerces her into kissing him again? Right after he finds out she’s literally engaged? Like she’s obviously made her choice and he still clings to what people claim is “natural attraction” but in the same breath will also claim is Jacob wanting to imprint on her and that he wasn’t only ever drawn to the egg that is Renesmee, but to Bella. Which isn’t natural, it’s supernatural.
It’s hard for me to accept that what Bella feels is true love when the moment started with a coercive, arguably sexual act. It’s like hearing an abuse victim try to rationalize staying with their abuser because “who else is gonna love me?”
I’m saying both Edward and Jacob are seriously flawed as characters and as romantic interests. I agree with OP that the “love triangle” was not a love triangle and was some forced thing that Stephenie Meyer was obviously not wholeheartedly on board with. Bella and Jacob were never meant to be together by anyone’s standards. Why? Because Stephenie Meyer wrote the books and she says she always intended on Bella ending up with Edward. We can all ponder on the what ifs, Bella included, but there’s no denying Jacob is a sexual predator and a child groomer and I’m sick of people defending him. Bella included.
>admitted she was IN love with him
She only said that after being emotionally manipulated and confused about how she reacted to his sexual assault. Read that scene again - she says the only explanation for why she doesn't want Jacob to stop kissing her is that she's actually in love with him. But that's complete nonsense. Lots of people orgasm when they're being raped, but that hardly means they're in love with their rapists. Your body's reaction is different from your emotions.
Not to mention, she says that she feels overwhelmed by Jacob's emotions. He's excited and enjoying himself, and she can't bring herself to hurt him by pushing him away. She's always been a people pleaser.
Combine that with the way Jacob has been insisting and pushing the narrative that her caring about his feelings means she's in love with him, and that if she's attracted to him or enjoyed kissing him that would also mean she was in love with him. Combine that with Bella's lack of trust in herself, her tendency to think she's less than others. Look at how horrible her self-talk is in that scene. She says she's selfish and a monster for trying to be friends with Jacob. She thinks he's an innocent victim and she deserves death.
That's not someone who finally has a clear, unbiased perspective from which to understand her situation. That's someone who has finally been worn down and broken by manipulation and stress.
>He was the natural path her life would have taken
Literally how. She never would have flirted with him and would have just seen him as a kid. She definitely wouldn't have made the same mistake as her mother and tied herself to someone stuck in a place she hated.
I don’t hate Jacob. I just think his character was used oddly and it hurt the plot.
I didn’t ignore what happened at the end of Eclipse, but one scene isn’t enough to carry a “love triangle” across three books. It would have carried weight if that moment had happened in the beginning of Eclipse or at the end of New Moon, so the triangle actually had a foundation to build on from the beginning.
The truth of narration is that Bella chose Edward over Jacob multiple times and never once seriously considered Jacob as an alternative. When she was with Edward, Jacob barely crossed her mind. He was more like a loose end she felt guilty about than a genuine love interest.
And then Jacob dropped Bella completely after she gave birth to Renesmee, which makes it seem like he was only ever drawn to her eggs (ew 😅).
I think the story would have been 10x better if Meyer hadn’t killed off Bree & had Jacob imprint on her. It sets up a conflict with Volturi still, they want Edward, Alice, and Bella, they can use the “siding with our natural enemies” as fuel for coming after the Cullens. Renesmee was always a weird choice, especially for two eternal teenagers who never had expressed interest in parenthood & are deeply involved in each other.
I think this was a really good case of tell vs show and why a lot of writers say you have to err on the side of show. We definitely were told many times that Jacob would have been her natural choice and that she would have been willing, but of course was “Eclipsed” by her magical choice which was shown to us for three straight books. The few instances where she tried to show us that it would have happened with Jacob too, was too few and not really believable. It honestly always just felt like instances of betrayal/cheating on Edward bc she thought Jacob was/would be sad - even in New Moon.
Had Edward been walking around with other girls, holding their hands, continuing to willingly see them and even kiss them after they made an unwanted pass, we would have been outraged on Bella’s behalf.
The baby was always the end game of the story, so it was just how she would carry that out. I totally agree that her own lore was revised by her (which is her right) and she now has the opportunity to fix it if she comes out with new books.
It was never a question of who she would choose. You always knew it would be Edward. The only time she seemed to consider Jacob was when she thought she had to settle without Edward or when she was afraid he’d kill himself. She loved Jacob but she wasn’t IN love with him. To your point, the text tries to tell us otherwise but it never really shows it.
Well said. Meyers didn’t fully commit to the love triangle troupe and it was too hesitant on Bella’s end to be compelling or sellable. And YES Edward was too complacent it was gross and demeaning. The readers would have loved some juicy jealousy and rage and it would have been 100% justified and believable.
>Jacob being introduced as relief for Bella's depression in New Moon made sense. But the budding romance should've been squashed and buried by the end of that book. Jacob chose his tribe and Bella chose Edward. That's what happened, but it only shifted on Jacob's side when he refused to let her go and his pack got tangled up with the Cullens.
Twilight is about Bella discovering vampirism, which is represented by Edward, New Moon is about her discovering her own humanity, which is represented by Jacob, and Eclipse is about her being torn between the two, before making the ultimate choice.
That's why Jacob is crucial to the third book.
>There was never really a love triangle. Bella wholeheartedly chose Edward. She only ever pitied Jacob. Without that weird coerced kiss at the end of Eclipse, the so-called romance between Bella and Jacob was basically nonexistent.
That's blatantly incorrect.
What's with this sub's blatant denial of the canon fact that Bella and Jacob loved each other/were natural soul mates lately?
Has nobody on here read Eclipse?
>Edward wasn't even openly jealous of Jacob or resentful toward Bella, which felt unrealistic and like a missed opportunity for real conflict between the main characters.
Why do you think he was suddenly super suspicious of the wolves in Eclipse and forbade Bella from visiting them, after they had saved and protected her life in New Moon?
There was definitely some jealousy at play there.
He wasn't resentful toward Bella because he was beating himself up about dooming her to an early grave and was letting her indulge in her humanity as long as it was possible, even somewhat hoping that her getting with Jacob could change her mind.
>To me, Jacob was a plot device in New Moon that got dragged out unnaturally as a romantic focal point in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, which was a huge misstep. Meyer clearly had no idea how to resolve his character after Bella fully rejected him, so Breaking Dawn ended up centering on giving Jacob a "happy ending." The result was the bizarre sci-fi fairytale of imprinting on Renesmee.
Your timeline is twisted.
Jacob was always going to end up as a plot device for Bella's daughter.
Meyer wrote Twilight and most of Breaking Dawn first, before being convinced to write more books, using her fascination with Jacob to turn him into an actual character in New Moon and Eclipse.
>Honestly, Jacob would have made a lot more sense as a villain.
I'd say he's very much an anti-hero in Eclipse, where his proper story and character development ends.
Then, in Breaking Dawn, he's essentially brought back as an atanognist.
>His bitterness, possessiveness, and inability to let Bella go could have set up a much more compelling arc if the pack had actually turned on Bella and the Cullens the way they almost did in Breaking Dawn. That storyline would have felt more organic and truer to the nature of the two "monsters." Bella being caught in the middle of that would have been interesting.
I mean, he almost killed the kid, before being supernaturally lobotomized into serving it.
Both of that is pretty monstrous.
>Instead she was caught in the middle of an unrequited romance, which just came across as weird.
It was requited, just eclipsed by something stronger.
That's pretty tragic and fascinating, if you ask me.
>And continuing on how unrealistic Breaking Dawn was, Edward being able to sire a child makes absolutely no sense in the context of how Meyer described vampires. His semen should have been venom. Bella couldn't realistically have sex with stone. To be fair, I never meshed with Meyer's whole concept of vampires. The sparkly stone bodies made things like sex and pregnancy seem completely implausible. She needed to alter her description of what a vampire was earlier in the series to prime the reader into believing pregnancy was possible.
Now that I 100% agree with.
The pregnancy, as it is presented in Breaking Dawn, makes no sense within the established lore about vampire physiology.
The first attempt at explaining it, which happens within the book, is completely bogus.
It is argued that older human women lose the ability to make babies, while older human men don't, but Twilight vampires are neither old nor humans, so huh?
It is also argued that the frozen bodies of female vampires are unable to have a menstrual cycle, but that somehow doesn't apply to sperm production, which is also a cycle?
Meyer eventually came up with the retcon that venom can simply function like sperm, but yeah, the whole thing was quite nonsensical.
>Basically Breaking Dawn was disappointing
I agree.
>and Jacob was a huge dead weight in the series.
I disagree.
>I think the publisher probably pushed Meyer to make it a love triangle because that trope sells in YA, but she never fully committed to it.
They pushed her to keep Bella in school and not make her a mother immediately, because that was really unrelatable to the target audience of highschool girls.
Exploring Jacob and his could-be relationship with Bella was her own idea, because she had grown fascinated with, and fond of, the character.
>Bella always chose Edward.
Yeah, but that didn't keep Meyer from fully commiting to exploring the tragedy of the lost love between her and Jacob.
Those parts of New Moon and Eclipse contain some of her best and most emotional writing.
You could really tell that she was inspired by it.
>I love the series, but I think it went off track after New Moon.
Me personally, I feel like New Moon and Eclipse are where it properly got on track and Meyer was really shining with her writing, before reverting to Forever/Breaking Dawn derailed it all.
I never argued Bella didn’t love Jacob. I said she chose Edward from the beginning. If you can’t grasp that simple distinction, I’m not going to invest my time digging deeper into your long analysis of my post, respectfully…
r/twilight • [7]Summarize
Rereading Twilight as someone more seasoned (older) -- thoughts on New Moon.
Posted by eriennexton · in r/twilight · 4 months agoBy no means trying to start a fight with anyone, I know how protective fans of this series can be, but I've been rereading the saga with the determination to come at it with a fresh set of eyes (I am being successful with this!) And to develop an opinion as a reader now vs my opinion as a reader then. I thought I'd share my thoughts on things to see if there are likeminded individuals...and not because I'm trying to go to war. I mean I know this isn't Tumblr or anything but I just...wanna cover my bases. Disagreements are healthy and okay and no one is wrong. 👍
Thoughts: I don't like Bella. I've heard the criticism geared at her that she has no personality and that it was because she was meant to be a bit of a blank slate for self insertion...but she does have a personality. It's very obvious when you pay attention. And....she's not a fun lense for me to read through? She's harsh, critical, and kind of ungrateful. And it doesn't really balance out by her bits of internal monologue or external dialogue where she reiterates her selfless spirit. Reading the first Twilight, I liked Edward but didn't feel like I understood his connection to her, and hers seemed entirely superficial. I didn't feel they REALLY had a deep connection. That was ever demonstrated or showcased. And I primarily lay the burden of the blame at Bella's doorstep. Her personality might be bland, but what flavor there is does NOT agree with my palette. Don't enjoy her mindscape at all. Again, sorry if you disagree.
Funnily enough, I find that one of my favorite characters is actually Jess. And I hate that, if I remember right, she fades into obscurity as Bella needs more room to shine I guess.
Anyway, New Moon. I'm reading New Moon. And...I think I've heard before that fans of the series will sometimes just skip this one on a reread. And I totally get why. I think as teenagers it was probably more "No Edward aaahhh!" It's also the birthplace of Team Jacob and...I am Team Jacob. But Bella....who already didn't have a lot going for her narration voice wise has even less when it's a whole book from the perspective of a seemingly empty shell.
But .... But.... And these are all things that have been said a hundred million times before I know... What concerns me that people might mount the pitchforks for is this:
I. Can't. Stand. Alice.
I'm sorry. I know that a lot of people hold her on a pedestal of superiority among the women of the Twilight Saga. But damn. You can't email back? Oh cause Edward disappeared? But it's Bella's fault how she chose to cope -- in a way you didn't approve of -- and how dare she do that and hang out with werewolves? I don't like that Bella's reaction is such hamfisted euphoric joy to get back her bestie...and not "excuse me?? Who do you think you are stepping up in my house and fussing at me when you and your whole family ghosted me like I was last week's trash? What makes you think you have the right to tell me that I'm not doing things you'd want me to do when you left me to fend for myself? And by the way, you can go suck something if you're about to open your mouth to spout any criticism against the friends who have been protecting me." No, she's falling all over herself for Alice and....it's very annoying. And disloyal...and to be quite honest...it doesn't feel earned. I'm supposed to believe they have some close special bond...but they don't?? She spends the entire first book barely interacting with anyone but Edward, only interacting with his family when they are a part of the social group ahe and Edward are in, and then New Moon is here and it's "oh yeah Alice was close with Bella and Charlie" and I'm like when??? When did you have time in between growing out of Edward's elbow to be best friends with Alice?
Idk. Like I said, I know I might make people upset. But, I don't read Alice as Bella's best friend. I read Jacob as Bella's best friend. And down the line, as the series progresses towards the end and Alice gets chance after chance to show up for Bella --- I don't recall many times that she actually does. Rosalie on the other hand...
I wish we could explore more of the personalities and lives of the characters that aren't Bella. Just a little bit more. First person perspective is limited, I know, but we don't get anything but what Bella every now and then thinks to assure us is totally true without us seeing it. Mid chapter she just breaks out things like "And of course Jasper is insanely passionate about opera music and spends most of his time in the opera house that he just built over the summer." Like what??? When did this happen?? And since when does he like opera??? Like girl unglued your eyes from your sparkling Mr clean sponge long enough to establish some of these things before dropping your "did I forget to mention at any point before now" bombshells on us.
Anyway I know I'm nearing the end of New Moon and the reunion scene and...I already know how that goes and I don't think my mind has changed on that front. I understand why he did what he did... But I don't like the immediate falling back into her belief that he is so far above her and so naturally she has to dotingly forgive everything because she's just so grateful he's even willing to sneeze at her. Like.... The fact he wants to go all Shakespeare doesn't mean he didn't do you dirty and you're allowed to have words to say about it. Especially given that Jane Eyre very obviously was an inspiration for the whole hallucinating thing.
For those that don't know/haven't brushed up on their classics: Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester are soulmates. Jane Eyre has to leave and Edward can't find her. Then, when it seems like time has come where she must ultimately let him go and move on with her life she hears his voice crying out to her. She cries out a response and immediately leaves to find him. At the same time, it turns out, that from where he is he was calling out to her...and he heard her response.
The difference between Jane Eyre and New Moon is that Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester leave while they are not yet truly equals-- though Jane declares herself to be she isn't comfortably situated in that position. After she returns she is well and truly his equal with as much power - in some ways more - as him.
It doesn't work if when Bella returns she's just returning to be the elbow growth when, while with Jacob, you saw her shining as an independent and appreciated mind.
Doubly so especially jarring when everytime she hallucinate Edward it's him being harsh and critical of her.
Like...thats not romantic.
Anyway. Does anyone feel the same? If you think I'm way off base on some things....respectfully argue your case? I'll listen and respond.
To add more lol, wdym edward didnt even GROVEL????? He just explained himself, kissed her, basically pushed her into kissing him by the way and casually told her he isn’t leaving anymore and she went “oh cool, i love you by the way”
Like ??????
"Bella, I don't want you." "No wait please don't do this." "I'm leaving and will never contact you again."
Later
"What do you mean you believed me??? You actually thought I meant any of that??? Silly human, assuming that when I went no contact with you for several months and didn't even come back when you were in danger it meant I was telling the truth." "Wow so you lied to me, destroyed my property, and left me alone to face real possible danger because you loved me and just got worried because of a papercut? Oh this really is true love."
Bella not giving Alice shit over her behaviour drives me mad. She lets the Cullens walk all over her - and I like the Cullens for the most part. But the whole family treat her like a disposal napkin in this book and it’s gross that it’s accepted so easily by her. Bella needs more self worth.
Bella is written with really low self worth. She apologizes for bleeding from her head to Jacob in the movie
Also in the book! Jacob is all like, why are you apologizing for bleeding? Are you trying to push your blood back in???
Agreed. Nothing wrong with writing a character with devastatingly low self esteem... But I think there's nothing outside of her persistent belief that she's not worthy of Edward's love that really sells the low self esteem angle. It makes it feel less like an inner demon she has to overcome when it only seems to exist in relation to comparing herself to a guy written to be literally perfect. (He sparkles in the sun. It's not a fair comparison.) I'd say that I wish we could see this low self esteem affecting her in other ways, outside of romantic relationships, but unfortunately the entire scope of her existence is just her romantic relationships or potentially romantic relationships and how they affect her.
It doesn't work IMHO to be like "Well now that she's also a vampire she doesn't have to have a low self esteem anymore". .a more satisfying storyline for her would have been 1.) A lot of missed opportunities or other ways a low self esteem has hurt her. 2.).she overcomes the low self esteem 3.) Fate rewards her conquering this inner demon by giving her that which she desires above all things- to finally be a vampire.
Character rewarded for conquering her inner demons is a lot more satisfying than character conquering her inner demons by being rewarded. "Yeah, I used to be a big coward but then someone literally kept giving me money until I decided to stop." Just doesn't work.
After reading Midnight Sun, I can’t think of Jessica as anything but an awful, fake friend who never cared about Bella.
I totally respect your opinions. And though I do think Bella is very immature, I love her so much. I read the series as a middle schooler/early high schooler so her dramatic emotional takes made sense to me, especially as I really felt like a Bella in high school when my Edward left me and I loved my Jacob, but not in the way he loved me. Rereading reminds me of the intensity of teenage feelings and reactions because I remember feeling the same way.
“There is no wisdom in growing old if one doesn’t remember what it’s like to be young”.
Twilight feels like teenage love. It feels cringy and desperate and immature because IT IS. That’s the part that feels real to me.
Also in the book, Bella never emails Alice. And even in the movie, it shows that the emails never go through. Alice isn’t getting them. And she doesn’t reach out to Bella because Edward asked her not to. And it kills her not to and she is over it and doesn’t want to do what Edward asks anymore. Even her showing up in Forks is simply because she can’t help herself when she thought she was dead.
That being said, Alice is a bit insufferable lol
Applause. Just straight up applause. Very true and valid. Thank you!
THIS IS SO REFRESHING TO READ and quite honestly I agree with you on all points. I was such a big fan when I was teenager, read all the books, watched all the movies, sketched “Team Edward” on my notebooks in school, and desperately hoped I would also find a hot vampire boyfriend and a hot werewolf best friend who were fighting to claim ME! (lol, teenagers).
I rewatched all the movies last week as a grown woman and quite honestly saw so many red flags and loopholes in Meyer’s storytelling. I agree that Bella is a teenager who grew up on her own taking care of the mother so I can see the appeal in having a traditional caregiving bf like Edward. But I didn’t see specific reasons or scenarios where their attraction turned into “true love”. It was curiosity at first on Bella’s end, and it was clear that her side of love was more superficial and teenage-y while Edward thought their love was all consuming and written by God himself.
We don’t really see Bella interacting with anyone else and was confused how Alice became her best friend - and yes, Alice was annoying. She gave ‘the spoilt only child who needed all the attention’ and Bella just existed in a corner without really being able to set boundaries. But same with Jacob, we know they grew up together but there’s rarely any mention of them keeping in touch and suddenly they’re best friends in new moon?? When? And how?
Quite honestly this story should have ended the moment Bella realised what Edward was. That’s it. I don’t understand the “we are soulmates” arc bc there’s honestly no evidence presented from Bella’s side other than pure obsession and lust.
And tbh I agree that Alice could have been a better friend and RESPOND TO AN EMAIL like who does that knowing your “best friend” is going through a hard time.
And through it all, I felt bad for Charlie…
r/twilight • [8]Summarize
Does anyone else think Bella forced/tricked herself into thinking she was in love with Jacob?
Posted by nonskater · in r/twilight · 5 months agoI want to preface this by saying, this is my very first time reading the series; so please no spoilers! i have seen the movies, so i ultimately know what happens, but i was never too into the series and im way more interested in the book. i’ve just finished eclipse and im on the second chapter of breaking dawn!
with that being said, does anyone else feel like bella made herself think she was in love with jacob? i really really don’t think she is.
in new moon, bella leans on jacob and uses him as a distraction from all things edward related. she pretty much uses jacob to fulfill her emotional needs completely. she cares about jacob, but never expresses any romantic desire towards him what so ever. she barely notices his physique, as is. she doesn’t describe jacob anywhere close to the way she describes edward. as soon she hears one word about edward, she immediately discards jacob, and barely stops and thinks about how he feels about it.
then in all of eclipse, she’s mad at jacob for most of the book, for a number of reasons; he’s way to assertive and arrogant, at one point he gets aggressive with her, and he manipulates her every chance he gets. then he, once again, manipulates her into kissing him. and she somehow, in that moment, convinces herself that she’s always been in love with him????
to me, it’s very clear that bella cares for jacob as a friend, but nothing more. her randomly deciding she’s in love with him threw me for a loop. it seems like nothing more than grade A manipulation on jacob’s part, but the fact that she comes to the conclusion that she’s in love with them both, bothers me immensely. does anyone else agree? or could anyone provide a new perspective?
Well yeah. Like you said, Jacob was manipulating her on purpose for a while.
He was guilt-tripping her for rejecting him and telling her the fact that she cares when he gets hurt is proof she's in love with him. He undermines her confidence in her assessment of her feelings by telling her she's too inexperienced to know better, and that Edward is manipulating her. He also sexually harasses and assaults her and tells her that her responding to him physically is proof she's in love with him. That's the one that finally gets her, but it wouldn't have worked without the other stuff, including her being desperate and overwhelmed in the moment because of his suicide threat.
Idk why Stephanie had to turn Jacob into a shithead. Up to Eclipse, I felt bad for him. Like yeah it does totally suck that the girl you really like is in love with your mortal nemesis and refuses to even hear you out about the dangers of it all. BUT then he gets all hotheaded and selfish and territorial, which is such a contrast to the sweet, reliable Jacob from before - the one Bella sees as a friend and leans on in NM. The whole shift in her personality was totally not needed and I was so annoyed with him by the end.
It's pretty dramatic, but tbf he was already testing her boundaries in NM, e.g with the hand-holding. And right before Edward called, he was leaning in to kiss Bella, without having asked. So I don't think his behaviour in Eclipse came completely out of nowhere.
I think Stephanie Meyer intended to write it that Bella was in love with Jacob, but I think she did a bad job of writing it that way because she was also keeping Edward as the main guy and the endgame. It’s hard to see it the way it’s written. It just comes out of nowhere, and then it’s pretty much forgotten afterwards.
I know this isn’t what Stephanie Meyer intended, but the way it reads is that Bella loved him as a friend and liked the kiss, and she interpreted that as her actually having feelings for him.
Also she wrote twilight and then breaking dawn so Jacob was kind of thrown in which adds to her not getting his character perfect in the added two books.
Yep, and since she kept so much the same from Forever Dawn when she wrote Breaking Dawn, there wasn’t anything in Breaking Dawn about Bella being in love with Jacob (because she wasn’t in love with him in Forever Dawn). Which just makes her love for Jacob seem even more like a throwaway line.
Not to mention that Bella is a self insert character, and Jacob is based off of SM’s brother. So I’m sure she felt a bit uncomfortable writing a bunch about her self insert being in love with her brother.
Personally, I don't think that Bella was ever in love with Jacob. Did she love him? Sure, but it's entirely possible to love someone platonically. And I just never got the vibe that she was in love with him, especially considering that anytime she had to choose between Edward and Jacob, she chose Edward.
I think at the end of the day she just wanted Jacob to be happy and she knew that she was not going to be the person that he'd be happy with. She knew he felt that way but she didn't and I do think that she kind of tricked herself into thinking that she was in love with him versus just loving him as a friend.
I never got that vibe either. My aunt and I read the books at the same time and I remember her telling me how everyone online (I was too young to be online when the books were coming out) was picking teams and freaking out over who Bella would choose. I remember wondering why anyone could possibly think it wouldn’t be Edward. Even when Bella “had feelings” for Jacob, Edward was always at the forefront.
People argue this point often vociferously. But I believe Bella was influenced by the Renesmee connection just as Jacob was. I believe it's about fate. Renesmee was always fated to be born. I understand by saying this I'm risking many people's ire. But I think what I think. To me it completely explains Bella's confusion and that is how I believe SM meant it. That connection was there right from the start.
Jacob couldn't let go and Bella didn't want to either but she knew she was hurting Edward so she began looking at it differently...like Jacob was a part of the family but not as her lover. She always knew she loved Edward more and she made her choice. But that did not negate the connection she had with Jacob as she felt it throughout her pregnancy. If she had understood this earlier she wouldn't have been so confused. But hind sight and all that jazz.
i was wondering about this as well. i haven’t gotten to that part in the books, but i of course know that it happens. i remember they made it a point in the movie to kind of explain it, how bella always wanted to be around him and him her, even more so when she was pregnant, but it never made any sense until the baby came. also the fact that women carry their eggs with them throughout their entire lifetime :3
This point literally seems to be ridiculously unbelievable to some or repugnant enough that they will twist themselves sideways to get it to mean something else. But Ms Meyers seems to like making her readers go ewwww! I don't have the issue many seem to have accepting the whole Jacob-Bella-Renesmee conundrum. If there is one theme that holds throughout the series it is fate. Edward is simply a fate for Bella that cannot be resisted, just as Renesmee is for Jacob
I think it’s complicated.
Like it’s easy to level up from plutonic to lovers. It’s a real life thing that happens.
I think it didn’t help her sort out her feeling that Jacob was laying the pressure for his suit on thick and not fucking off when she’s like give me some space.
I think New Moon and Eclipse are separate issues/things. In New Moon she’s genuinely confused about what she wants. She doesn’t know what she wants. And that’s not bad.
She’s lonely and she’s grieving and she’s vulnerable. She’s latched on to Jacob’s. And then Jacob took it as a sign, which I can see why. The issue was she saw nah and he continued. That’s where the issues begin. She wants Jacob but she doesn’t know how to define what she really wants from him. She just knows she formed a bond that wants him in her life.
Eclipse is a different beast because she’s already chosen. And I see it as my clean up book. They have to clean up the mess of New Moon and a find new status quo. It’s for Edward and Bella to figure out how to be partners to one another too.
I do think Jacob’s behavior was questionable and even condemnable in certain parts.
But I do think she developed a real relationship and bond with him. I think he did things to inspired more than a plutonic pull towards him and that’s where the confusions comes into play. She doesn’t really know. She likes him but loves Edward. She wants to be around him but doesn’t want to replace Edward. And Jacob wants to step into and become the next BF. And she’s not ready for that in New Moon and in Eclipse she’s chosen Edward.
Thing being said, I do think had Edward never returned, she probably would have ended up with Jacob.
But she chose Edward when he walked back into the scene. And that’s the issue. Jacob didn’t respect her choice. And he doesn’t want to be and never wanted to be JUST FRIENDS, which is why he keeps pressing his suit. And Bella doesn’t know how navigate it but trying to keep the friend boundary when he keeps wanting to step over it. And that’s why love triangles fucking suck. They are confusing and rarely have a satisfactory clean up. Meyer just did not wrap it up well with a bow. It was like someone was wrapping it up blind folded with gardening gloves on. An irregular shaped not box shaped item is already a pain in the ass. And she just made it suckier. But the thing about love triangles in romance is that you have to suspend you disbelief and believe in something along the lines of loving multiple romantic partners is possible. And I do believe it is.
I think Jacob’s “manipulated” things as in putting the moves on Bella but there was already a kernel there for him to stoke. So it wasn’t just out of nowhere from his POV and Bella knows it too.
The issue really isn’t if was it there or wasn’t it there. The issue is she chose and he didn’t respect her choice because he didn’t like it.
r/twilight • [9]Summarize
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I understand why Jacob is so bitter at the end of New Moon/Eclipse
Posted by Manthalyn · in r/twilight · 4 years agoFor a long time, I really didn’t like how Jacob acted in Eclipse. I thought he was just a jerk that couldn’t take rejection well. But now that I’m older, I think I have a different perspective.
So Jacob knows that the Cullens have left. He knows that Bella was with Edward long enough for her to fall in love with him. And he’s jealous, sure, but he doesn’t really know Bella that well. Then, Bella starts coming around to see him. He can physically see the toll Edward’s leaving has taken on Bella. At times she has to hold herself together to keep from breaking down. But slowly, she starts to get better. She accepts him for being a werewolf. They grow closer and Jacob falls in love with her. She asks him to give her time, that she’s not ready for that right now.
Then Alice shows up and says Edward wants to kill himself. Despite his pleas for her to stay and not run off into danger, she goes anyway. And she almost immediately forgives Edward for all of the pain he caused her. Not only that, but she can’t really be around Jacob anymore because of Edward. So not only has he lost her again to Edward, but he’s also lost his best friend.
Granted, all of this doesn’t excuse his behavior in Eclipse. But he’s a teenager with some wolfy anger issues, and he’s trying to process what happened at the end of New Moon. Add in that he knows Bella does love him, and it gets even more complicated. I can sort of understand his motivations, even though he went about it in the wrong way.
Thoughts?
I don’t really still. Everything else that’s commonly brought up a lot aside, Jacob has direct conversations with Edward and then Bella late in Eclipse where he’s outright talking about and admitting his continuing efforts to play off of Bella’s unnecessary guilt to manipulate her to try and get her. He’s very clear that his whole goal along the process is to manipulate her into being in a relationship with him, and then at the end of Eclipse when he learns that Edward wasn’t furious and didn’t unload on her for kissing Jacob, he’s going on about how he’d counted on Edward reacting badly and how Edward’s “better at the game” than Jacob is cause he’s older.
It’s all a game to him, and in his world, Edward and Jacob were the players with Bella as the trophy, a trophy he cares a lot about but still a trophy. He literally can’t even get the concept that Edward wouldn’t hurt him, because it would hurt Bella, and that Edward would accept her choice if she chose Jacob. Jacob is not a particularly good guy frankly, and that’s my perspective as a dude.
Perfect post.
Also want to add that Bella forgiving Edward is no one’s business but hers. She doesn’t owe Jacob (or Sam) anger at Edward. She doesn’t owe Jacob loyalty in the form of hating people whose only crime is existing.
This idea that Bella committed some kind of wrong against any of the wolves for loving the Cullens is such an unfair burden to place on her.
Jacob can be as mad as he wants because all feelings are valid. But his responses to those feelings are not all valid, and usually, they’re pretty shit.
ETA: Also, re: he saw what Edward leaving did to Bella — worth pointing out that when Edward offers to do “anything in his power” to repay Jake/the pack for keeping Bella safe, Jake requests he leave again.
Even knowing it destroyed her, even though he can see she’s happier and healthier, he wants Edward to go.
Jacob is an inherently selfish person post-transformation.
À la guerre comme à la guerre. He never gave up on Bella. That's Jacob, at his worst and at his best. But he is young, true that.
I feel the movies didn’t really show her feelings all that well. In the books, she constantly tells him she will never love him in a romantic way, and that she can only love him like a brother. He knew that and kept pushing and pushing it. I always hated their relationship together because I didn’t like how Jacob refused to respect her boundaries.
I don’t know about the “never love him in a romantic way.” SM herself said that Bella falls in love with Jacob in New Moon, she just didn’t realize it because the only other time she had fallen in love was with Edward, which happened very quickly. Jacob was a slow burn, which is why it took her so long to realize it. She loves him too, it’s just not enough to change anything. But I agree, Jacob pushes his case too hard
I’m pretty sure it says it in the books as well. Like even to the point where Bella and Jacob have a conversation that if Edward hadn’t been alive at all and “monsters” didn’t exist they would’ve been together.
I don’t think it matters if she loved him and didn’t know it. What she says, out loud with her human words, is that she doesn’t love him. Jacob should take that as face value and leave her be. That’s what consent is. Consent is not “i think you want it even though you say you don’t so I’m gonna give it to you.”
just to add my perspective because i literally just finished reading new moon, I've never been an advocate of BellaxJacob because like you said he did push it to the point of sexually assaulting her in eclipse, however i feel like she definitely did lead Jake on in NM. in the books, in her head she's debating if she should be with Jacob. she says she knows she'll never love him the way she loved Edward, but in her mind he's not coming back and no longer cares for her so she wants to be able to be as happy as she can and she thinks that's Jacob. she also tells him she doesn't want him to stop trying even though she warns him she's "broken." he asks her in the movie theater scene if he's making her uncomfortable and she says no, which I think is fair (even though i do think he's being too forceful even in that scene.) so, you're all totally right that Jacob pushes it way too far, but Bella does encourage him a little bit too much for it to not be her fault that he thinks he still has a chance.
Yeah, this. I can definitely understand where Jacob is coming from and it's completely reasonable that he's hurt and bitter (he has feelings!), but I always felt she was clear with him from the beginning and it's not her fault he couldn't handle just being friends with her, so I hate that he takes that out on her with the constant pushing. I would be more understanding if his motivation for trying to keep her from Edward was more concern for her when she makes questionable choices about Edward, but it always seemed to me that his motivations were almost entirely based on selfish desire. It's just too disrespectful for me to be on his side with anything. (And yes, Edward has his own moments of disrespecting her, but he learned from those mistakes and I never thought Jacob did).
(Side note: I know this is probably super unpopular, but I'm not really interested in additional thoughts from the author generally. Not that I think it's "wrong" to care or anything, you do you, but for me the story is what she chose to put on the page and each reader's reaction to and perspective on the page.)
Jacob just has too much incel energy for me. I absolutely cannot stand his character. So many scenes in the books he acts like he's entitled to Bella, romantically and physically.
breaking dawn jacob is the WORST. “moronic wolfy claim” is apt. if i was a mother i would not let him anywhere near my daughter ������
Yup.
I say this all the damn time: Jacob being an angry little shit makes all the sense in the world. It’s not “character assassination” — it’s development. Development is not always positive. Jacob’s radical change is to be expected. Look at all that trauma. Of course he’s mad. Of course he’s resentful.
That doesn’t make everything he does in response to that trauma okay, though. And you can’t write off everything as his age, either.
Imo, there’s a line where Jake’s behavior is understandable, but not acceptable. For example, Jacob being Nice GuyTM in the way he talks to Bella in Eclipse? Using her as a bandaid for his issues? That sucks and that’s not okay, but yeah, he’s a traumatized 16 year old who genuinely thinks Bella is about to do something worse than killing herself. His hatred and his viewpoint are parent and peer sanctioned, and he’s terrified for her. I could get past that if he ever apologized because he is young, and newly broken, and it is an insane situation. I doubt any of us would handle it well.
But there’s no justification for repeatedly sexually assaulting someone. It’s not okay because he is young and his life is hard. It’s not understandable because he is young and his life is hard.
It’s not bad behavior as a response to trauma. It’s abusive behavior, and he is unrepentant, always. He acknowledges multiple times that he knows exactly what he did, and says he would do it again
Idk how to get over that.
r/fantasyromance • [10]Summarize
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Posted by Live-Needleworker-60 · in r/fantasyromance · 1 month agoI’ll begin by saying that the last time I read this series, New Moon was my favorite one. And it’s 100% because Edward was barely in it. This book was essentially a memoir to how toxic their relationship is.
New Moon begins on Bella's 18th birthday, and she's PISSED because she is now officially one year older than her vampire boyfriend Edward. Let's forget that he's over 100 years old, so her weird age problem is pointless. Bella has a supreme fixation on age regarding male/female relationships. Judging by what she's said, she believes the woman inherently needs to be younger than the man. Her mother married Phil, and he's "too young" for her. Bella is freaking out that she's technically one year older than Edward and one of the major excuses she uses for not dating Jacob is that he's two years younger than her. Move past your age complex Bella.
So Bella is pissed that it's her birthday, she wants everyone to ignore her birthday, but obviously, no one cares what Bella wants, so they get her presents and throw a party for her anyway. She tries to use the excuse that she has a movie to watch, but Edward manipulates the situation so she can both attend the party AND watch the movie. The film in question is Romeo & Juliet, which is also apparently New Moon's theme? Edward and Bella have another casual discussion about who loves who more and what they would do if one of them died (commit suicide, naturally). I genuinely am so over seeing these suicide pact things in YA novels like my god. Please stop trying to promote to these young people that relationships should be like this because they absolutely should NOT. After the movie, they go to Bella's birthday party, where she is gifted a car stereo and a paper cut. My question is this. When Bella decided to open her birthday presents, why didn't Alice foresee her getting a paper cut and the following events? Shouldn't she have seen this coming? But no, because if she did, SM would have had no book to write. After Bella gets her papercut, like a rational person, Edward launches her into a glass table to 'protect her' but succeeds in cutting her arm even more. I'm wondering if the arm she injured was the same one where she got her papercut because, LOL, if so.
All the vampires have to pussy out because they can't handle the smell of Bella's blood, and Carlisle stitches her up while telling her that Edward believes vampires have no souls. This is why he doesn't want to change her into a vampire, but like Edward, it's not your choice, bro. You don't have to be the one to do it, but you don't get a say in what Bella chooses to do with her life/body. I think that's one of the things that bothers me most about this couple. It's obvious how heavily Bella relies on Edward to make decisions for her. Towards the end of the book, after they get back from Italy, she instantly asks him what the story is--expecting him to have already it crafted for her to use. She seems genuinely shocked when he doesn't have an account to give. Like girl, find a backbone, please.
After she gets all stitched up, Edward takes her home, helps her open her gifts and acts like things are relatively a-okay. Bella's got terrible vibes, though. For the next three days, Edward is super distant and basically ignores her, and instead of doing anything about it-like Idk maybe confront her boyfriend; she waits it out, hoping he'll come around. Instead, he dumps her in the forest and then breaks into her home while she's crying in the woods and steals everything he gave her. Because that's not super strange at all, but Edward is a master gaslighter, so it makes sense, I guess. I'm confused about why he didn't also take the car stereo because that is a clear indicator of his existence. I know it wouldn't have been too difficult for him to remove with his vampire strength and speed, so why did he leave it in? Also, why did he fake Bella out and make her think things were okay, only to dump her three days later? I don't understand. Did it take him three days to decide to leave her because I didn't buy that?
Anyway, Edward leaves (they have been dating for five months), and Bella goes into a depression where she's essentially catatonic for four months. FOUR MONTHS over a FIVE MONTH RELATIONSHIP. Maybe I'm just a weirdo, but I don't get how you can become that attached/obsessed with someone quickly. What did they even talk about? They were always just trying to upstage the other one with how much they loved one another. "I love you so much I'd be willing to kill myself!" "No, I love you more!" Like, shut up. After four months of Bella moping about, Charlie finally decides to act. He threatens to send her back to live with her hare-brained mother. But her mom sends her monotone emails because Bella doesn't put in enough effort, so why should Renee? It's not until Bella starts giving more that Renee responds in kind.
Bella stops doing all the things she loves, and they try to make it claim it's because of how depressed she is, but if you're me, you'll notice that she lost all her hobbies the minute Edward Cullen came into her life. When they started dating, her interest in books vanished, she barely listened to music unless she was with him, and she never talked about cooking anymore, which she seemed to enjoy genuinely. Before Edward left, she didn't do any of this either she just laid in his arms and did what? Not kiss? One up each other on the potency of their love? Most boring relationship ever, bro. The majority of this book is Bella staring into space, thinking about the hole in her chest. (Literally, it is mentioned so often I feel like it was on every other page)
So because Bella doesn't want to get sent away, she decides to go to a movie with Jessica since Jessica wouldn't ask questions. Bella does some reckless nonsense and pisses her off, and has an Edward voice hallucination. Since Bella is definitely of sound mind, she looks for other avenues to hallucinate her ex-boyfriend's voice. She decides to watch her childhood friend Jacob Black fix her a motorcycle. I sincerely wish that Bella would have helped him improve them instead of just watching. She could've become a gearhead and maybe learned to be less clumsy. But no.
I liked Jacob in the beginning. I liked that he was kind and funny and understood Bella without having to interrogate her like Edward. I like that things seemed easy and natural between them. I like that he didn't push her into a romance (at first), and they had a more healthy relationship. Bella got actual much-needed space from Jacob. She couldn't spend every waking moment with him, which I think is soooo important. She is ALWAYS with Edward, which has got to be so suffocating. Like girl, get some space, please. I liked him until he went to the movies with Bella and Mike. He tries to make some move on Bella, and she tells him no. Instead of listening, he starts questioning her further about how she feels about him, and she makes it clear that she is not over Edward and is not interested in a relationship beyond friendship. Instead of accepting this and moving on with grace, Jacob says he's prepared to be 'annoyingly persistent' until she changes her mind. Jacob, no, sweetie. Let's not do that.
After the movie, Jacob ghosts Bella because he turned into a werewolf, but he's not allowed to tell her. We already know that Jacob can't keep a secret, as proven by Twilight when he spilt all the beans on the cold ones. He finds a way to tell Bella anyway, and then things are all okay again.
The werewolves are all indigenous people from the Quileute tribe. When they turn into wolves, they cut all their hair off and shift when they can't control their tempers. They're also ALWAYS shirtless and seem to be far more bigoted towards the Cullens than vice versa. She even goes as far as to say that it's difficult to tell them apart, and they all look like brothers. Big OOF, Stephenie. Not all POC look the same. Idk. It reads remarkably tone-deaf to me.
While Jacob is ghosting Bella, she freaks out because she has nothing to do now. So she goes hiking alone; the first time she tries to do something solo, she runs into a vampire and almost gets murdered. This girl can't go anywhere. Even when she goes cliff diving alone, she nearly dies. Like she needs a chaperone at all times, it would seem.
Alice comes back after Bella almost dies from the cliff diving incident because she thinks Bella killed herself, and you know what that means. Edward is now also going to kill himself. So they have to race to Italy to save him. This is where we learn about the Volturi, the like vampire rule enforcers. On the plane to Volterra, Bella begs Alice to turn her into a vampire even though it would put her out of commission for days. You're on a rescue mission, Bella! Put your vampire boner on the back burner. It's so pathetic that Bella was willing to have Alice change her and then follow Edward around like a lost puppy dog for the rest of her days. Like girl, find some other reason to live! You'll have the rest of your life! Edward is not the fantastic guy you think he is!
When they finally meet the Volturi, we only see Aro, Caius, Marcus, and some of their guard. It's mentioned earlier that two other women lead with these three, but they're never mentioned again? Unless Jane and Heidi are those two women, I didn't get that vibe off them. I'm so confused as to how Marcus' power works. How does one see relationships? What does that look like to him?
Aro decides to allow Edward, Alice and Bella to leave Volterra on the condition that Bella is eventually turned into a vampire. Naturally, Edward is controlling af and is unwilling to do it. Bella, in response, puts her mortality up to a VOTE. This bothers me so much because like IT'S HER BODY, HER CHOICE. EDWARD GETS NO SAY. At the same time, I think Bella's reasoning for wanting to become a vampire is super ridiculous. They all vote to turn her, and Edward breaks a tv in a temper tantrum. Then he sits there trying to bargain with Bella. "How about when you're thirty? Okay, fine then, you HAVE to marry me if you want me to turn you." And it's so clear Bella doesn't want to get married, but she wants Edward to turn her, so she gets manipulated into something she doesn't even want again. God, I hate Edward.
Oh, and like I said before, Jacob can't be trusted. To get Bella in trouble, he tells Charlie about the motorcycles. Little asshole.
--
I find it interesting that Stephenie Meyer has such a large family of siblings but writes solely about only children who have 'found families'. I'm genuinely curious as to why. I'm also really curious why she named several characters in this book after her siblings. Could she not be bothered to research actual indigenous names? (A lot of her siblings, except Heidi, are Quileute...) Do the characters named after her siblings reflect their personalities at all? Does it reflect her relationship with them too? Because if so, I have some QUESTIONS.
• Jacob Black is named after her brother and is the secondary love interest in this story. He doesn't know how to take no for an answer and seems to have a bad temper.
• Paul is another one of the Quileute werewolves, and he has the worst temper of all. Like extreme anger management issues. The boy needs therapy.
• Emily is the girlfriend/mate of the alpha of the pack Sam. She's also heavily scarred and a boyfriend stealer.
• Seth is the adorable baby brother of Leah Clearwater. Also, a Quileute character. He is the most liked sibling.
• And then there's Heidi. She's a vampire and a glorified bait lure for humans. She leads them to their death by bringing them to the Volturi for dinner.
ANYWAY, THERE YE HAVE IT. I hope you enjoyed it.
Several years ago, I remember seeing a meme about how if these books were written from Charlie's (Bella's dad) perspective, it would be in the horror genre and I couldn't agree more.
Twilight is basically a dark romance written for YA/by a Mormon, so...
Fair enough. I'm coming at it from the perspective of how the dad (if he was real or the main focus) would have perceived his daughter nearly dying over and over, becoming obsessed with some sparkly dude who gives creep vibes then ditches her which results in a depression the likes he has never seen before in his kid. Then one day she's like surprise! I'm a monster now teehee!
Like Charlie is just a dude. A dude with a truck and a normal job and suddenly all this craziness is happening and he's afraid for his kid. Then there's a random granddaughter who popped up out of nowhere and is somehow in some kind of a situationship with a grown dude like WOAH. Horror movie twilight zone kinda stuff (if you'll forgive the pun)
Wow. I knew this story by heart but I still ate your summary up.
Really enjoyed your recollection of the book and how pissed you are. Same here, but i love Twilight in a weirdly ironic way!
even though i'm mad and I hate it I still love it. hahahah
“You’re on a rescue mission, Bella! Put your vampire boner on the back burner.”
100% 💀
Also was and still my favorite book of the series. Because I love angst and MESS apparently. I remember reading the pages that were just the months and being absolutely gagged…
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the New Moon soundtrack goes so hard to this day!!!!
Omg, your post made me cackle! Definitely I felt the same when I first read it—thought it was pretty good cuz of introducing the dynamic between Jacob and Bella. And then when I got older, I went back to reread them again, I couldn’t! Honestly I felt Bella was whiny and hard to like, Edward felt too aggressive and edgy, and Jacob became too pushy as a character. It’s crazy how I didn’t pick up on it the first time! And I’m glad to know I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
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AI Answer
Why did Bella choose Edward over Jacob in Twilight
Key Considerations:
Emotional Connection: Bella shares a deep emotional bond with Edward, characterized by intense passion and a sense of safety. Their connection is portrayed as more profound and transformative compared to her relationship with Jacob.
Vampire vs. Werewolf Dynamics: Edward represents the allure of the supernatural and the danger that comes with it, which intrigues Bella. Jacob, while warm and protective, embodies a more conventional love that lacks the same level of excitement for Bella.
Personal Growth: Bella's relationship with Edward challenges her and pushes her to grow. She is drawn to the complexity of Edward's character, which contrasts with Jacob's more straightforward nature.
Choice and Agency: Bella ultimately makes a choice based on her desires and feelings. She feels a strong pull towards Edward, which she interprets as her true love, despite the complications that come with it.
Narrative Arc: The storyline emphasizes the theme of forbidden love and the struggle between different worlds (human vs. supernatural), making Edward a more compelling choice for Bella in the context of the series.
Takeaway: Bella's choice reflects her desire for a passionate, intense relationship that challenges her, ultimately leading her to choose Edward over Jacob. This decision is central to the themes of love, identity, and the complexities of relationships in the "Twilight" series.
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