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The charm bracelet is a personal gift. It belonged to Edward’s mother and he did not have to spend a dime in procuring it. That fulfills all of Bella’s conditions.

The problem with “Edward is bad at giving Bella gifts” is that it implies a pattern of Edward giving Bella gifts she does not want and/or not appreciate. But we don’t have that pattern. Edward gives her two gifts in the first few books: A CD of his songs and the charm bracelet. Both of which Bella likes and accepts. Edward even complains that he would have loved to get her a gift for prom, but he knew Bella would have puppies, so he didn’t.

In Breaking Dawn, Edward gives Bella an expensive Mercedes, a huge, missileproof machine she dislikes—although also because it draws attention to her, which she hates. She accepted this condition, however, when she agreed to marry him. Also, she barely gets to drive it—there is all of one scene with it. After she becomes a vampire, Edward gives her a Ferrari, which Bella is all 🤷‍♀️ about—not because she hates it, but because she prefers running and doesn’t like cars all that much to begin with. She loved her truck chiefly because it’s big and it was for free (#relatable).

So all in all: Edward gives Bella one gift she dislikes or simply doesn’t care for. Otherwise, he respects Bella’s wish not to receive gifts from him. And the one thing Bella does ask him for (sex) he eventually does give.

Hot Take: Bella Does Not Hate Gifts

Today’s post is brought to you by: this tendency of antis to hate on Edward and the Cullens for giving Bella gifts even when she does not want them and believing that Edward and/or his family do not respect or understand Bella. What they reveal is their own fundamental misunderstanding of Bella’s character and the role the Cullens play in the narrative.

Bella’s dislike of gifts is a result of her parentification. In Midnight Sun it’s revealed she hates celebrating her birthday because Renée did not give her the gifts she really wanted, forcing her to pretend she did. That’s why Bella tells the Cullens in New Moon she doesn’t want gifts or even celebrate her birthday.

When they do so anyway, though, Bella loves it. She loves Emmett’s new stereo for her truck. She loves Carlisle and Esme’s gift of plane tickets to see her mother in Jacksonville. She loves Edward’s gift of a CD of his compositions and even cries because it touched her so much.

Because that is the role the Cullens serve in the narrative: They tell her she matters, that she is loved and appreciated. They tell her she is worthy of getting gifts. The gifts are a reminder of the vast income inequality between them, to be sure, and that is another reason why Bella is uncomfortable with Edward showering her with gifts. But it’s also why, when Bella does join the Cullens as a vampire, her aversion to gifts all but vanishes.

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This reel passes the vibe check

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“The rad fems got to her” you’re wording this as if she couldn’t possibly come to these conclusion by herself. Patriarchy is rampant, of course women who suffer the most from male violence have more chances to become invested in feminist activism. Despite her astronomical amount of money, she is a woman who knows sexism like any other.

I meant it more along the lines of the “rad fem(inism) got to her.” But honestly, I was thinking more of Harry Potter, which doesn’t betray this at all. I’d honestly say it expresses liberal feminism at best (Hermione especially embodies this perfectly). It surprised me that Rowling would be attracted to its more radical form, given her staunchly liberal/centrist background. But I suppose she never healed from her trauma. Also, the fact that Rowling could write male characters so convincingly was a sign, in hindsight.

Either way, a chunk of radical feminism strikes me as internalized misogyny expressed as misandry. Not just a hatred of patriarchy, but a hatred of men, period—which is not the same thing. Because if men are inherently awful and violent, then they can’t be changed, which defeats the purpose of feminism. It’s understandable Rowling could have bought into that, given her experiences. But it’s still a nasty strain that can and has led feminists to the arms of the right wing.

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I know Rowling is such a bigoted wretch these days…but that doesn’t mean Harry Potter is not a product of her domestic-abuse-victim-turned-single-mother-on-welfare-who-used-to-work-for-Amnesty-International era.

Because it is and it shows.

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Hot Take: Bella Does Not Hate Gifts

Today’s post is brought to you by: this tendency of antis to hate on Edward and the Cullens for giving Bella gifts even when she does not want them and believing that Edward and/or his family do not respect or understand Bella. What they reveal is their own fundamental misunderstanding of Bella’s character and the role the Cullens play in the narrative.

Bella’s dislike of gifts is a result of her parentification. In Midnight Sun it’s revealed she hates celebrating her birthday because Renée did not give her the gifts she really wanted, forcing her to pretend she did. That’s why Bella tells the Cullens in New Moon she doesn’t want gifts or even celebrate her birthday.

When they do so anyway, though, Bella loves it. She loves Emmett’s new stereo for her truck. She loves Carlisle and Esme’s gift of plane tickets to see her mother in Jacksonville. She loves Edward’s gift of a CD of his compositions and even cries because it touched her so much.

Because that is the role the Cullens serve in the narrative: They tell her she matters, that she is loved and appreciated. They tell her she is worthy of getting gifts. The gifts are a reminder of the vast income inequality between them, to be sure, and that is another reason why Bella is uncomfortable with Edward showering her with gifts. But it’s also why, when Bella does join the Cullens as a vampire, her aversion to gifts all but vanishes.

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My in-universe reaction to Maxim and Rebecca is that she emotionally and psychologically abused him for years, and I don’t blame him for finally snapping.  My out-of-universe reaction is that it was fucked up on du Maurier’s part to signal that Rebecca was a bad woman by making her a promiscuous femme fatale stereotype.

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Lately there has been a discourse regarding the status of fanfiction and it ended up giving birth to awful takes among one of them people calling Romeo and Juliet a fanfiction of Brooke’s poem

I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to misusing the term fanfiction (although in my defense, I always mean it as a joke, I swear!!!). But yeah, William Shakespeare did not write fanfiction. At all.

He adapted works into plays. Which, yeah, can function very similarly to fanfiction in that they are both transformative. But the most important distinction between the two lies in their purposes. Shakespeare was not writing a whole new plot with established characters in fun “what-if” type of scenarios. He was adapting the story and characters as-is into a new medium—either that, or just plain writing historical fiction.

To that end, he did not change Brooke’s poem very much. He kept most if not all the plot, just rearranged things (moving the plaza-wide fighting to the beginning, etc.). He changed Mercutio from a random suitor to Juliet—cold hands and all—to Romeo’s friend and made his death the trigger for Romeo finally dueling Tybalt.

He also changed the characters’ personalities, adding depth and rationale to their actions. He problematized Verona’s world and the adult characters way more than Brooke’s poem ever did. More importantly, though, he wrote Romeo and Juliet as being really and truly in love and got rid of Brooke’s Aesop about the dangers of lust and disobeying your parents. The thematic changes are so much that the poem actually reads like a bad fanfiction of Shakespeare’s work than Shakespeare’s play.

Of course, adapting Romeo and Juliet is pretty cut-and-dry in comparison to Shakespeare’s other plays. Most of Shakespeare’s other plays did involve more extensive reworkings. Shakespeare also used canon mythological figures like Theseus and Hippolyta alongside OCs in a new plot; that’s probably the closest he ever comes to actual fanfiction. But unless you are prepared to argue that the screenwriters for Marvel movies are fanfic writers…it’s best to leave Shakespeare out of it the discourse altogether.

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The Ballad of Mack the Knife (My English Lyrics)

You know this song, even if you think you don’t. Honestly, I can’t believe I actually had the chutzpah to try to compete with Marc Blitzstein’s lyrics, lol. But I really did want to see if I can capture some of the dark cynacism and social commentary of the original Bertolt Brecht while still retaining its flow. Besides, I’ve already translated German musicals, so this would actually be on brand for me. Like if you like, reblog, etc.

The Ballad of Mack the Knife (Die Moritat von Mackie Messer)

There are those who live in darkness There are those who live in light Those in light lie, scheme, and prosper Those in darkness fall from sight

There are sharks where there is shark bait Teeth like razors, sharp as life But one shark leaves not a trace there And they call him Mack the Knife

In the ev’ning, by the river There’s some merger dumping waste Politicians, bought and paid for, Were glad Mack was on the case

Many young men, full of promise Broke some children on a tryst All were bailed out, cops just stood by And ol’ Mackie grew his list

Suky Tawdry, Jenny Diver Polly Peachum, Lucy Brown All had wanted just to love him They were just his sea to drown

There are shootings, storms, and fires All those futures lost untold Mackie knows, though, starting fires Keeps you silent in the cold

We’re the ones who live in darkness Ruled by those who live in light They may rise now, they may soon fall But we’re always out of sight

They may rise now, they may soon fall But we’ll still be out of sight

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And now the antis are criticizing Edward’s gifting Bella the heart-shaped diamond charm in response to Jacob’s gifting Bella the wolf charm. Lol, no. I’m with Edward on this one.

Imagine you’re an insecure teen boy dating this girl whom you literally cannot live without (and nearly proved it last book!) but she keeps hanging out with this other boy behind your back. Not only that, but this boy has made it clear he is romantically interested in your girlfriend and wants her to choose him. Not only that, but by this point, this boy has forced himself on your girlfriend, kissing her without her consent, and she hurt herself in hitting him back.

And now she has accepted a very personal handmade charm from him as a graduation gift, despite her constant assurances that he is only a friend.

YMMV, but I feel Edward had every right not to take that lying down. Him giving Bella that heirloom charm is a reasonable Take That under these circumstances, and only the most rabid Edward haters would ever consider it problematic or an instance of him fundamentally misunderstanding Bella.

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Inimi

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Romeo si Julieta - Musical - Teatrul Național de Operetă și Musical „Ion...

Romeo și Julieta, Opereta București, 2025

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I love the line “je rêve de voir cette ville en feu” in Je rêve ‘cause every time I hear it I just think “it’s not the city man it’s just the Hungarian production doing it’s regular Hungarian theatre shit down the road”

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shout out to my favorite genius actor playwright director producer songwriter-lyricist gentleman landowner businessman poet. happy deathday u nerd

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Comparing Juliet and Ophelia is fun until you realise that both had to choose between love and family and Juliet chose love and died, Ophelia chose family and died, and then you have an existential crisis over your life choices

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Yeah, your girlfriend’s cold motionless body lying in a crypt for two days may just randomly come to life, who knows