#Twilight reread

[wallflowers-in-the-wind]

Jacob: I will sacrifice everything for you. To be apart destroys me but I cannot sit aside and watch you kill yourself for a blood sucker that doesn’t want you to die either. We both want you to live. I want you to be happy. And if that means you don’t choose me I may need time to come to terms with it but I will always love you Bella.

Bella: K thanks

[avengernerdone]

When Regulation was having active thoughts and could understand Bella from inside the womb why didn't they just...c-section her out then

Like??? She was thinking clearly?? Obviously Ragu was developed?? Did they, the vampires with dozens of medical degrees between them, not think about this??? Obviously Bella had no idea what the difference between a zygote and a goat was, but???????

[fluffyfluffemz]

Twilight: Preface

The preface is short, and as such, makes for easy analysis for the sake of improving my own writing.

In terms of the opening, I think Twilight's is pretty effective in regard to how well it captures the reader's attention. The first two paragraphs raise plenty of questions I, as a reader, want answered.

"I'd never given much thought to how I would die, though I'd had reason enough in the last few months..." Right here, the first sentence of the book and our POV character( who we will soon learn is named Bella) is about to die. It's unexpected, and I have to wonder what these reasons Bella has had to ponder her own mortality are and why she's been disregarding them.

Again, in the second paragraph, we're presented with more of the unexpected:

"I stared without breathing across the long room, into the dark eyes of a hunter, and he stared pleasantly back at me."

Excuse me, Miss? You're about to be hunted. What do you mean "pleasant"? But this does paint an unsettling picture of a predator with a deceptive appearance—someone or something that can kill with no remorse.

I'd say the weakness of this passage—and the book as a whole—is that the writing doesn't quite meet standards of "good" by today's metrics, and probably not even for its time. I suspect this has something to do with the redundancy of some of the descriptions and the lack of conciseness of language. Nowadays, adverbs are generally frowned upon unless they contribute additional information to the sentence that can't be provided by substituting another word for the verb it's modifying. So, for example, if it were my own writing, I would expect someone editing to zone in on "looked pleasantly" and suggest I revisit it. In this case, "pleasantly" acts as a form of "telling." I would have to ask myself: what about the way he's looking at my character makes him look pleasant? Are his eyes warm? Or is it something in his body language—maybe his posture is relaxed, open, his arms out wide and welcoming?

Once we've established that he is, in fact, non-threatening in his appearance, we can look at the final sentence (The hunter smiled in a friendly way...") and ask ourselves if the adverb "friendly" is redundant. I would say yes for two reasons.

A smile is, by default, typically considered a friendly gesture.

Coupled with the fact that literally three short paragraphs ago we had already established that his demeanor was non-threatening, there is no reason to believe our readers need this reminder.

Another instance where we have "telling" rather than "showing" is when Bella tells us that she's terrified. Not all instances of "telling" are unwarranted but, as stated in "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Browne and Dave King, modern readers are used to visual mediums where they have to infer from cues what a character is feeling. They expect a similar dynamic from their fiction, so it's often prudent to edit out emotion words when possible. Even if the intention of telling us she's terrified in this passage was to keep it short, changing the word from "terrified" to "shaking" or something similarly short could have easily communicated the same thing with potentially more impact.

All that being said, I read this book a minimum of 7 times when it came out, and it was and is adored by many others as well. Clearly, it is good by that measure. When I say the writing is not "good," I am coming from the approach of what I have been taught is expected from published literary works, particularly ones targeted at an adult audience. I think it's pretty dismissive to claim that something so popular is objectively bad solely because it doesn't meet a particular set of standards agreed upon by academics or publishers.

[dreamsy990]

you know i used to think it was weird how sora and roxas have such different personalities for supposedly being 'the same person' but after playing a few games i sort of realized that they do have similar personalities, because roxas acts how sora does when he's under extreme stress.

compare roxas to sora in, say, kh1. that's where a lot of peoples idea of sora's personality comes from. sora is generally very upbeat and optimistic in that game. not very similar to roxas, right?

but let's switch the game and talk about a game where sora is ABSOLUTELY GOING THROUGH IT. chain of memories.

sora's resting state is melancholy in com. he only ever cheers up in short bursts, usually when he's joking around with friends. just like roxas.

he's quick to anger, and tends to lash out at the organization members. best example of this is when larxene makes him 'remember' namine, and he swings at her repeatedly, even after she's gone. he only stops when jiminy is able to snap him out of it.

you know what scene that resembles?

sora, while a bit more on the angry side and less sad, continues to act like this in kh2 when he's in stressful situations. (he also has a tendancy to insult people which, while it's not very related to the point, is very funny and sora saying 'gonna cry?' to xigbar is great.) i cant comment any further than that about kh2 off the top of my head.

so, roxas acts like sora does when he's stressed, right? but why is roxas always acting like that? to which i say, he isnt!

he only ever acts like that when he's also in fucked up and stressful situations, which happens to be a CONSTANT in his life. but when he's hanging out with axel and xion, a decidedly NOT stressful situation, he's a lot more like sora. he's teasing his friends and insulting his coworkers and joking around and acting like a normal kid. not really important, but unless i misremembered some sora lines which is VERY possible, both roxas and sora respond to friendly insults with "oh thanks!" a lot. just a funny little detail that felt relevant.

the biggest differences between roxas and sora boil down to environment and... i dont know how to put it besides volume? roxas is very quiet and tends to keep most of his thoughts to himself, while sora is very loud and expressive in comparison.

there is one other huge difference i noticed, which is less character based and more story. sora wanted to get off destiny islands and explore with his friends, but roxas just wanted routine. sora wants adventure, and roxas wants things to stay the same, for days where he gets off work and eats ice cream with his friends to last forever, to keep having conversations about nothing and watching the sunset. roxas wants normalcy, sora wants excitement. it's just interesting seeing their contrast.

not sure if this is very well said or anything i just wanted to talk about my boys

[crazylittlejester]

I just noticed something and now i have a theory.

So way way way back a looooong time ago, Wars was the first of the chain to interact with Dink

he attacked first, he got Dink’s attention. They fight for a bit until Wars knocks him off a cliff. And they realized Wars didn’t kill him and they keep walking.

The SECOND time Dink appears, Wars is the one he targets specifically

Four notices that out of everyone, Dink seemingly targets Wars. And Wars matched him, they fight for a bit, until Wars calls to Sky and Sky does a skyward strike (im pretty sure thats what he does? he makes the sword glow so like)

After sky did this Dink seemed pretty afraid of Sky. He ran away after that.

The third time we see him, Dink firsts attacks Time and Wind, and they fight him off pretty easily, almost as if they weren’t really his targets. But he’s still actively attacking them.

And then he moves on to Sky

And when he sees Sky’s sword start to glow, he gets NOTICEABLY scared. After this happens he stops attacking the chain and tries to run away.

Hyrule and Legend both try to stop Dink, but he does escape and Twilight has to go herd him back to the group, and that’s when Twilight gets hurt. While Time, Sky, and Wars are gone trying to help Twilight, Four and the others attack Dink, and eventually it’s Wild who uses stasis to kick his ass.

Everyone had a point in the battle where they interacted with Dink, except for Warriors. Who is the one who first fought him.

My theory is that we’re going to see an epic smack down between Wars and Dink, and also Sky. Those two seem to be the ones Dink has the biggest issue with, and after the stunt Wild pulled, I think it’s safe to add him to that group as well.

I think Dink has probably recognized those three are the biggest threat to him; Wars because he’s the strategist/planner and he’s the one who fought him first, Sky because of the skyward strike that scares Dink, and Wild because he hurt Dink pretty badly even if he didnt kill him

art credit to @linkeduniverse !!

[ginwhitlock]

[JULIET to ROMEO]: "For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch / And palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss"

[sebarial-the-economist]

Words of Radiance, folks.

[swordheld]

from the introduction to "the sovereign sun" selected poems by odysseus elytis, trans. and introduction by kimon friar. [id in alt text]

[wallflowers-in-the-wind]

Reading the Twilight series is a minefield and filled with so many relationship red flags if you aren’t looking. In the first book when you’re introduced to Edward at first it’s an ‘ok so this is the love interest cool for you’ scenario. A bit odd that Bella is obsessed with immortality and not aging but can roll with that too. Can somewhat understand the love for Edward in that moment.

But then as the series progressed you see the shift into ‘what the hell’ territory. New Moon throws readers off with the break up and moving away but in the most unexpected way. Edward was supposed to be shown to love Bella but he ditched her in the middle of the forest after breaking her heart. She had to be found by a search and rescue. Not to mention the nightmares and complete mental breakdown. The only reason she began to build herself back up and get better is because of Jacob. Even Charlie noticed how much happier she was with Jacob and he tends to not notice much.

Yet it’s destroyed because Bella is obsessed with seeing Edward through hallucinations and nearly kills herself jumping off a cliff! And because of this Edward decides to commit suicide and turns into a completely ridiculous drama.

Edward royally messed Bella up so much she had nightmares, hallucinations, and nearly killed her multiple times. Yet she drops everything to go save him from killing himself because he refuses to listen to his family. I’m not even sure if they love each other because it just seems like a strange obsession they have believing it’s love.

Then as we go into Eclipse and the confusing love triangle and the battle and weird word building about vampires who seem to like to pretend they’re gods. But Breaking Dawn was my breaking point. I knew she wasn’t going to choose Jacob yet everything in the writing was screaming that if Edward used his brain and left her alone she would have been happy with Jacob. A wolf-girl who lives in La Push who accepts her mortality and doesn’t have to hide her life from her parents. She never would have given up her truck until it needed to be replaced and never had to give up everything for a guy.

Although Edward giving Bella an ultimatum to get married to be immortal was both clever but horrendously cruel. Because Bella hates weddings. She doesn’t want one but Edward insists and it acts as the first barrier to keep her from making a choice she can’t take back. But Bella is miserable the entire time. She never wanted this but she tries to make it work. Yet she has to beg for Edward to touch her on her honeymoon. No one should have to beg for their spouse to at least show some affection on their wedding night.

Yet the book continues to take Bella’s choices away from her. She lost her truck, the ability to go in the sun comfortably, every little thing about being human she loved was taken from her. She couldn’t even have her straight out of nowhere daughter cause they become imprinted on Jacob.

The series just turns into a horror story about a girl losing everyone and everything she loved.

[therealslimkatieee]

My thoughts reading Twilight at 12yo: Wow Bella’s so mature and cool

My thoughts re-reading Twilight at 16yo: Wow Bella’s so misunderstood and mysterious

My thoughts re-reading Twilight at 25yo: Wow Bella’s frontal lobe is not fully developed AT ALL huh

[fluffyfluffemz]

I haven't read Twilight since maybe 2009, but yesterday I was seized with the urge to revisit it. I know my takes aren't anything new, but I'm having so much fun roasting it that I've decided live to blog my adult reactions to the book I read 7 times in middle school thinking it was peak literature and romance.

[iffondrels-library]

Absolutely loved reading "Whistling on Deaf Ears" by CrimsonRavioli, where a prank gets taken too far and Twilight loses his hearing. So I drew a few sketches for it!

Chapter 2: Fun

Wild breaks out in a short laugh, just like he did when it was the captain being pranked.

He expects the others to join in. But a couple of seconds pass, and nobody's laughing with him.

Chapter 8: Talk

"You want to talk, vet? Let’s talk. About how maybe, instead of barging into conversations that have nothing to do with you and demanding answers, you could try and not be useless when I ask you to help."

Chapter 11: Damage (Pt. 2)

A short, fluttering burst of magic lights up around her finger. It disappears as quickly as it appeared, and the Great Fairy just smiles once it has dissipated.

"There," she says, withdrawing and resting her head on both hands once more. "Now we may speak with less trouble. Hello, Hero. I am the Great Fairy of Magic."

That's all I have! But please check out this wonderful fic if you're like me and enjoy some wonderful Wild and Twilight angst! Thank you again to @a-little-bit-of-ravioli for writing such a compelling work!

[twilight-zoned-out]

Recap for people who haven't reread the Hunger Games trilogy in a while and intend to read Sunrise on the Reaping (most of this comes from Catching Fire):

Haymitch Abernathy was the winner of the second Quarter Quell

Second Quarter Quell = twice as many tributes

He was 16 and had a girlfriend back home

He used the Games' force field system to win, which the Capitol considered cheating (it made it seem like the Capitol killed the other tribute instead of Haymitch)

He was the first and only District 12 victor until Katniss (EDIT: I completely forgot about Lucy Gray Baird; Haymitch is the first to win under the modern Hunger Games system-to-mentor pipeline)

His family and girlfriend were killed after he was crowned victor

He had the attitude before the Games, but being a mentor definitely made it worse

[greenerteacups]

Hi GT,

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but I absolutely love the recs you've given (you've introduced me to tomione, and I love it!) and I was wondering if it's possible to give you some recs in return? There are some books and fics that definitely have dramione / got vibes, and I was wondering if I could share them with you!

So glad you've enjoyed them! Feel free to rec me anything you want. I've read most of the classic recs in terms of fic and adjacent content (Cruel Prince et al), but I'll try anything that's well-written. My tastes run towards weird and/or audaciously creative stuff, and I can forgive a lot of weaknesses in plot on the grounds of (1) ambition or (2) character work. My turnoffs are instalove, protagonists who can't fail, and most Y/A (I'm not a hater, I swear, I just need characters who can say "fuck" when their leg gets chopped off.)

I'm also a fan of weird and fucked-up dynamics.(Wuthering Heights was my favorite book for a while, and as a teenager I wrote an AU in which the book ends on a long sex scene where Heathcliff fucks Cathy's ghost and then immediately gets murdered by Catherine 2.) Obviously, I am very normal.

[grand-zodiac]

every time i reread arctwi stories i remember i love this games interactions

[eggmacguffin]

#I HAVE A HAUNTED CLOWN DOLL NAMED CHARLISLE#AFTER THIS EXACT THING#HE PLAYS A HAUNTING MELODY IN A MINOR KEY AND SWAYS UNSETTLINGLY

I need you to know that you are SUCH an entity in the BEST of ways, this made my day and I will smile every time I think of it going into the future, AMAZING

TY TY TY

and I'm sorry but I am using this as an excuse to talk more about Charlisle because he is the light of my life and no one irl ever wants to hear about haunted clown dolls

my girlfriend's mom used to be a professional clown, so everyone in her life assumed* she liked clowns a lot and gave her clowns and clown themed things as presents for years. As a result, she has a TON of clowns. So many clowns that one year when my gf and her siblings couldn't find the Christmas decorations they decorated the entire house with clowns instead.

(*She liked clowns fine, but finds clown dolls a little creepy, actually)

So in 2021 I was helping my gf's mom move, right? And I unearth the Bad Clown section of the storage closet. For broken clowns, ugly clowns, clowns with missing limbs AND. Clowns She Doesn't Like Looking At. Charlisle was there. and I was enchanted.

gf's mom noticed, and said I could have him. I asked if she was sure. she said "I Don't Like Him. I Don't Want Him."

He stands close to the height of a newborn baby. His color scheme is a Ronald McDonald nightmare, his makeup is garish, his expression is inscrutable. his hands are blindingly white, huge, stiff, & ceramic. they sound like bone when you clack them together.

He can stand on two legs but is most comfortable balanced on one, and has a key installed in the middle of his back that, if you wind it up, makes him dance and play a twinkling little melody.

Now, I have no idea how old Charlisle is, but I assume the song was once whimsical and the dance was once charming.

This is not the case in the present day.

the song has slowed into a haunting minor key, and the dance is now a rigid, jerky bending of the body with limbs frozen unnaturally in place. each performance grinds to a slow, unsettling stop with the last note drawn out unnaturally like a question for which no answer exists.

The best part, however, is how very sensitive the winding mechanism is.

If you turn Charlisle's key and let him perform, for the rest of that day he is now "alive".

This means: if you pick him up, touch him, or even set something on the table next to him, there is a chance his mechanism will trigger just a little.

What this looks like in practice: you visit my home, you set your stuff on the dining room table, and a horrid little clown monster sings a single haunting note and twitches menacingly in your direction. for no reason at all.

I love Charlisle so much. he is like a son to me