Personal Correspondence #12 (aka. Mrs. Hyde's INCREDIBLY long birthday gift) - Part 1:
SOS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MRS. HYDE!!! I’m sorry to give you something like this for your birthday, but…well, it was the only thing I had on hand that was even marginally appropriate for the occasion. And it’s not like I can write a fic for you because, you know, you’re MRS. HYDE.
And I am SO sorry about the lateness of this too (and how it looks hastily thrown together). I got the date of your and Mervin’s birthday mixed up. Because I’m a bad fangirl like that. I am SO, SO sorry.
Still, I wish you had a VERY happy birthday!
Near the end of March Stephenie graced the lexicon with her presence.
Brian: Who the fuck talks about someone like that? What, is she a freaking GOD or something?
Radix: she could've made a Hypno-gadget like my own and brainwashed the people
She joined a philosophical discussion led by our own Tennyo and responded to many of the questions posed by Tennyo and the other lexicon members taking part in the discussion.
Brian: I'm trying to reconcile the concept of Meyer in a philosophical discussion in my head. ...Ow.
Radix: Ooooh, Philosophy! This is bound to turn into a one sided debate.
Brian: I'll just point out that we've seen this woman's FAQs. She doesn't answer anything. EVER.
The following is a transcript of the most informative of her posts.
Brian: Oh god, it was informative alright. It told me FAR more than I'd ever wanted to know about her.
NOTE: Stephenie was in no way giving out information about future books or anything they might contain.
Brian: Yeah, she'd never do that. I mean, how could you even THINK she'd release spoilers when she's leaked her manuscript THREE FUCKING TIMES?
Radix: She could be learning from her mistakes, either that or I am being far too nice. And what place does she have in a philosophical discussion? They are harder to partake in than they look!
Brian: She doesn’t even know what the hell a hyphen is!
She admitted that she was playing Devil’s Advocate
Brian: Oh, that's your excuse? She was saying mass-murder was okay because she was playing 'Devil's Advocate'? Yeah, bullshit. She repeated the exact fucking sentiments in her books, and kept repeating it for four and a half books and a novella!
by joining in this conversation and nothing contained in this transcript is meant as a spoiler. And don’t spend too much time dissecting it for information. Stephenie is smarter than that.
Brian: *Face palm* Does the words 'Midnight Sun' ring any bells?
Radix: Nothing to see here! Nooo information! Honest...as if Stephanie wouldn't rather give you the manuscript rather than a teaser.
Tennyo’s post that began the conversation on the thread Twilight Universe General Philosophical Musings in the Quench Your Thirst forum:
*ahem*, Anyway,
Brian: Okay, I'm already pissed. Actions in asterisks aren't a part of your sentence, so that comma is completely useless. And if you WERE gonna make it a part of your sentence, then capitalise the first letter, dammit!
today I was thinking about chaos theory, which is basically that everything in the world affects everything else, e.g. a butterfly flaps it’s wings in India, it then snows in Alaska.
SOS: *Pops in* Okay, I have to interrupt this just for one little rant: THAT'S NOT HOW THE CHAOS THEORY WORKS! It's a mathematical theorem that states that the slightest different in your set of starting circumstances ends in wildly different outcomes! Like if you perform a function with rounded values versus performing a function with exact values and then rounding the answer!
Taking this to mind (or even without it), you can see that killing one person (no matter who; mother, serial killer, whatever) changes the entire world. Kill a random teen; they could be the next Ghandi, kill a random woman; her great grand-child might find the cure for cancer, kill a random guy; he might be the only person who keeps another from suicide.
Brian: While that IS a good point in that Edward can't foresee whether any of the criminals he killed are capable of redemption, the tone of that writing still irks me. It seems as though the writer is saying that unless someone makes gigantic positive contributions to society, they don't deserve to live. You shouldn't refrain from killing someone because they might cure cancer. Life is an inalienable human right. You should refrain from killing someone because killing is wrong, no matter whether your would-be victim is going to be a great hero or just an average man.
Radix: so they need to be special in order to be excluded from this person's 'ok to kill at whim' category?! Heck, nearly all the creatures I refuse to kill are being spawned from a box and are trying to eat me!
So here we have the Cullens.
Brian: And here we have some flamethrowers. Do the maths.
Radix: Look for the sparkles then light 'em up!!
Excluding Carlilse,
Brian: My GOD, can you at least spell the names of the characters in your favourite fucking canon right? It's CARLISLE.
Radix: what they're saying anyways is that for some reason we have to exclude Carlisle from our sparkle-torching.
each of them has killed a number of people in their time, no matter how hard they tried.
Brian: WRONG. They never tried. Ever.
Radix: Blood is essentially crack for these sparklies. Their bodies don't need it strictly speaking, but they're addicted from vampire-birth and...and they know if help existed within a convenient Meyerpire community...but still, actually taking a human life, that is a stretch somewhat from drinking their blood but sucking out the venom or, or finding themselves a Ghoul! Oh wait, they don't do that
Brian: Actually, it's not. Blood isn't addictive at all. It just tastes slightly better than animal blood--like, say, fruit juice compared to water. You’re thinking about The Darkest Hour universe. And sucking out venom has only been done once, and that was from a very brief bite and very soon afterwards. It wouldn't work if the vampire was full-on drinking. And Ghouls do not exist.
Radix: In the Meyer universe?
Brian: Yes.
Radix: WHAT. THE. FUCK. ARE PEOPLE BEING MURDERED FOR THEN??
Brian: Oh, because they taste slightly better than animals, you see. And vampires are all about hedonism and senseless murder. Because hey, it's just HUMANS. It's not like they matter.
Radix: And I know Ghouls don't exist in the twilight universe. I was dreaming of Vampire the Masquerade.
Brian: Well, you can hardly fault Twilight vampires for not doing something that’s not canon.
Jasper and Edward have killed into the hundreds, or more, each. And it doesn’t seem to bother them as much as it should-to me, at least.
Brian: It doesn't bother them at all. I'm pretty sure both of them masturbate to memories of slaughter and torture. Especially Jasper.
Radix: that idea could have made them more interesting characters, though ironically, I think exploring that aspect of them would have lessened the appeal love-interest-Cullen aimed to have as a bad boy.
In fact, they seem more bothered by the fact that they’re doomed to a life as vampires than the fact that so many lives were lost because of them.
Brian: And considering that they aren't bothered by the fact that they're doomed to a life as vampires at all? Yeah, that says a lot, doesn't it?
Radix: If they feel they’re so dooooomed as vampires, why did the vast majority of them vote to have Bella turned, when they supposedly like her? Why did Edward ever give in to Bella’s demands to be turned?
Brian: Exactly what I mean. They REVEL in being vampires.
What bothers me the most is that all the Cullens (again, excluding Carlisle) have had "slip-ups" a few times at least.
Brian: Nope, instead, Carlisle just stood aside and watched people bleed to death on the floor and ignored their pleas for help, and then patted himself on the back for being SO impressively in control. Oh, and he loans out his cars to make sure vampires can more efficiently hunt people.
Radix: I thought they were all perfect little Gary Stus
Brian: Eh, being a murderer isn’t a flaw in this case anyway. I mean, it’s only humans. It’s not like Meyer cares.
And how are they treated? "We’re very dissapointed in you, now we have to move to a new town and you should try harder next time." I’m sure the loved ones of the person "slipped-up"-on wouldn’t be to happy with their beloved’s murderers living the sweet life with money and great digs while their child/spouse/parent/friend rotted away in the ground.
Brian: The point isn't that the Cullens are rich and living the high life. I'm pretty sure the family members of the MURDER VICTIMS would be upset even if they were killed by a hobo living in poverty. The point is that it's fucking MURDER and it's WRONG.
Radix: They gloss over it far too easily.
I don’t know, it just seems more proper to me that The Cullens wander the earth in torn rags or something.
Brian: How fitting for a Twilight fan. The worst punishment she can think of is to be poor. Personally, I think it'd be more appropriate if they were in JAIL. Or, even better, put down like the rabid animals they are.
Radix: Hell, Meyer doesn't even make leverage out of the idea of people-yes, I know you can't really call them that-getting away with murder and the kind of mind that might not have remorse, with 'vampire' being a metaphor for an inhuman person! ...that might be interesting too.
It’s like they don’t even care.
Brian: That’s because they don’t.
Any thoughts?
SOS: Well, you’ve seen my thoughts up there, so let’s move onto Meyer’s response, the main meat of this sporking. You can go, Brian, I’ll handle this as myself. This deserves the full brunt of my wrath.
Stephenie’s posts from March 28 and 29 on the Twilight Universe General Philisophical Musings thread in the Quench Your Thirst forum:
This is a really interesting thread that I should probably stay out of
SOS: Yes, you should. Stay out of everything. Everything you touch turns to shit. I haven’t read the rest of this debate, but I’m betting you’re the most infuriating there, just because you WROTE this series.
(but I can’t resist discussions on relative morality-fascinating stuff).
SOS: That is why you have an entirely black-and-white cast, I see, with anyone kissing Bella’s ass being portrayed as angels and saints and gods, while the people who don’t are treated as little more than pond scum. Because you like relative morality.
I’ve had enough experience on the Lexicon message boards to know that
SOS: (Meyer) I can bullshit whatever I want and these people will eat it all up.
just because the creator of the Twilight universe
SOS: Well, what’d ya know, she DOES think she’s God.
says something doesn’t mean people will believe it,
SOS: Mostly because the things you say are so mind-numbingly stupid that it’d require a lobotomy for me to even think about taking you seriously. That’s what happens when you claim there’s a west coast of Brazil.
even if it’s something so easy as an absolute “yes” or “no” answer
SOS: ONE. Show me ONE time you’ve answered with a simple “yes” or “no”.
that will be proven in the next installment
SOS: That MAY be because you can’t plan ahead for shit. You said vampires can’t reproduce, and yet Breaking Dawn still fucking happened. You’ve proven yourself untrustworthy, don’t go around blaming your fans for being doubtful.
(yes, people can argue with anything).
SOS: Kind of like how you can argue in favour of mass-murder with a completely straight face, right.
This subject is much more subjective and open to interpretation,
SOS: Lady, MASS FUCKING MURDER is not subjective or open to interpretation. Especially not UNREPENTANT MASS FUCKING MURDER.
IT. IS. WRONG.
so I know my input will not “answer” the discussion.
SOS: (Meyer) But I’ll blab away anyway, because I love the sound of my own voice.
And of course you won’t answer the discussion. There is only one correct answer here, and you’re not going to say your dearest darlingest Cullens are wrong at gun point.
Most likely, it will cause more dissention.
SOS: Because inciting flame wars is SUCH great internet etiquette. Is this some sort of weird manifestation of your fetish for having two guys fight over you? Now you want to see your fandom tear itself apart for you too?
(People are going to pick apart every line I write for inconsistencies,
SOS: 8D
which of course will exist, because I am not infallible. Sigh.)
SOS: Most authors are not infallible. They’re still able to craft a story good enough that the readers are willing to overlook the few plotholes that exist. Most PEOPLE are not infallible, and they realize that Brazil does not have a west coast.
Also, it doesn’t matter if your argument IS consistent. I will still be raging at it because you’re saying that MASS MURDER IS OKAY. That is what people are objecting to, you MORON.
Something to remember: I have no experience with
SOS: (Meyer) --intelligence. Or logic.
the Buffy world or other popular vampire series (tv or book).
SOS: (Meyer) Why would I want to read any of that tripe when my series is the Bestest Thing Ever?
I don’t know the philosophies and stories that some of you do,
SOS: (Meyer) Because the functionally illiterate is more capable of reading comprehension than me.
and I can’t comment on any comparisons.
SOS: Look, even in stories that have NOTHING to do with vampires, the theme of “MURDER IS BAD” is PRETTY DAMNED PREVALENT. Your argument is invalid, dammit.
However, it does seem to me that a few of you are taking assumptions from preconceived vampire notions and applying them inaccurately to Twilight vampires.
SOS: Those preconceived notions are that MURDER IS FUCKING WRONG, which, might I add, IS NOT UNIQUE IN VAMPIRES LITERATURE. Most readers are fucking HUMAN, Meyer. We don’t think murder is wrong because every vampire book before yours portrayed them as villains or anti-heroes at best. We think it’s wrong because we don’t like dying, and we don’t like our friends dying, and we don’t like our FAMILIES dying. And your book is not fucking special. When you start advocating murder, I don’t fucking care what the lore behind your vampires are, I’m going to say that it is fucking WRONG. Because those vampires want to eat me, want to eat my baby sister, wants to eat every single friend I’ve ever had.
I do not motherfucking CARE if animal blood is icky to them, or if they’re faster and stronger than me. I am still going to be fucking PISSED.
I’ll try to set those straight in particular.
SOS: In other words, this is an almost 7-page lecture where Meyer tries to make you realise that her vampires have a right to kill you, and, in fact, you should be sorry for being so delicious and tempting them.
Three notes I’m adding after completing this novella of a response:
SOS: This is not a fucking novella. It’s an essay, at the MOST. Stop trying to sound like a writer, Meyer. You just look PATHETIC.
A) This is a REALLY long exploration of the thoughts this thread has brought up for me.
SOS: (Meyer) Just, you know, random thoughts. I’m not going to edit anything or try to stay on topic or actually answer the question. I’m just going to vomit whatever comes to mind onto the page. Because hey, that earned me a fuckton of money before, so I must be doing something right!
But after twelve pages of comments, did you expect short?
SOS: Just because a lot of people commented, darling, doesn’t mean you can’t edit your response and stop fucking rambling. I can go through this and reduce it down to perhaps one or two pages, or summarise it in one sentence, ‘I personally think the Cullens are justified in murdering people because they are faster and stronger and smarter than humanity, so that gives them the right to kill us.’
Read at the peril of your eyesight.
SOS: The sheer amount of stupidity contained here will make you want to claw your eyes out.
B) I didn’t actually read every post in this thread.
SOS: You know, for every other person, I wouldn’t mind that. It’s 12 pages long, and I can’t expect everyone to trudge through 12 pages of Twihards talking just to present their argument. But when it’s MEYER? Yeah, this just stinks of her hatred of research…and of arrogance too. “Well, of COURSE my argument is unique and special and no one would have talked of it before. Of COURSE.”
Once it got so Buffy-centric that I didn’t understand what was going on, I started skipping.
SOS: Again, while I wouldn’t have minded that coming from any other person, with Meyer, it again just stinks of her arrogance and refusal to do research. It’s like she’s wilfully avoiding learning anything about the Buffyverse in a weird attempt to spite people who compare her story unfavourably to Buffy.
So if there is a really key element I’ve missed, that’s why.
SOS: Yeah, it doesn’t matter if she’s not addressing a major part of the debate, people. She’s put off by all the Buffy discussion, so you better just deal with it.
C) If you’re as interested in the implications of relative morality as I am,
SOS: (Meyer) For, of course, you can’t be more interested or have more insight into relative morality than ME, the Queen of Subtly Morally Ambiguous Characters. I mean, look at the way I write the Volturi as unambiguous EVIL EVIIL EVIIIIIIIIIIL villains. Truly, I have mastered the art of moral relativism.
you should try the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card, particularly book two, Speaker for the Dead.
SOS: Which I have not read, so I can’t comment on.
Okay, now to plunge into the muddy waters!
SOS: More like raw sewage.
And now we dvelve into the main meat of the response. And seeing how much I raged at her before she even got started...yeah, I'm gonna need backup. So here's BB, who makes everything better. Are you ready?
BB: Of course. I'm ready to rip this shit a new one.
1) The Cullens do not look down on humans.
SOS: Excuse me, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
BB: -LAUGHS SO HARD HE LOSES HIS VOICE-
SOS: WOMAN, DID YOU EVEN READ YOUR OWN BOOK?
BB: -Coughs and wheezes- Y-yeah, she d-did, but all she saw was "THEY LOVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Other Twilight vampires see humans as beef or poultry, it’s true.
BB: So does Hannibal Lecter. He also sees them as people. ....unsavory people, by the way. What does this say?
SOS: A viewpoint you support. Should I remind you that your sons are beef and poultry too? Or that unlike cows and chickens, people are unambiguously sapient? Or that unlike most people who eat cows and chickens, vampires WERE once their main food source? Or perhaps I should point out that YOU are no more than a cow under this philosophy, and if you should ever meet one of your dearest, darlingest vampires, they won't hesitate in murdering you in excruciatingly painful ways?
BB: Preach it, honey, but you know she won't listen. Meyer thinks that she would have a Vampire Twu Wuv who would keep her safe in darling Eddie-kins. Who, as we all know, ATE HUMANS AS WELL. ...so, really........no protection there, Meyer!
And it’s a hard viewpoint to resist
BB: Oh, not really. I'm resisting it right now. Know why? I ACTUALLY RESPECT HUMANITY!
SOS: No, it's not. Because vampires WERE once human, STILL live in human society, can UNDERSTAND humans, and can see the OBVIOUS FUCKING DIFFERENCES between a human and an animal. If I were to suddenly turn into a vampire one day, I am one hundred percent sure that I won't suddenly look at my baby sister and go, 'oh yeah, FOOD.' And it frightens me that you are apparently perfectly capable of that.
BB: -Raises a hand- I wish to interject with something.
Last night, I actually had a dream that I was a vampire, though not one of the Meyer variety - no, more Vampire Chronicles type vampire. I dreamt that I had the choice to eat my nieces, who are family members I really do not like at this precise moment, or dying of hunger and burning with the sun.
I WOKE UP SCREAMING FROM THE PAIN OF BURNING.
WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU?! NORMAL PEOPLE DO NOT THINK IN TERMS OF "OMG, I ISH SUPAH AWESHUM NAO, OMG, FOODS!"
-after all, vampires are physically and mentally superior to the nth degree.
BB: ....HAHAHAAH.
SOS: You know my aunt just had a baby recently? He's about four months old right now. I'm infinitely physically and mentally superior to him. You think the judge would accept that excuse if I went out and ate him now?
BB: Nope. Sorry, but I'm pretty sure a Judge would sentence you to life.
Their life spans measure in centuries and millenniums.
BB: Unless, oh, they're burned. Or piss off the Volturi. Or a real werewolf. Or a Native American shape-shifter. You seem eager to ignore all the ways your vampires can die. Does the truth hurt, Meyer?
SOS: My great-grandmother is still alive, you know. She's almost a hundred years old. Does that mean SHE has a right to eat that four-months-old baby, because, you know, she’s lived for so long?
BB: Still no. I'm pretty sure she'd get life, too.
Human lives are so short-sort of like fruit flies that only live a day in comparison.
SOS: Edward started his killing spree in the 1920s, you know. When he had only been on this earth for about two decades. And Jasper started killing as soon as he was changed, when he'd only been on this earth for about 16 years. And all the Cullens have lived lifespans possible for a human, except Carlisle. And all of them have a body count.
Also, let's just imagine that my aunt's baby has some form of disease that means he'll die before he's a year old. Does that make it okay for me to kill him now, because, you know, his life is so short compared to mine?
BB: ....
......-Clears throat- Personal story. My youngest nephew died four months after his birth. From SIDS.
HE FUCKING MATTERED TO US AND STILL DOES, SO SAYING THIS IS INSULTING EVERYONE WHO'S LOST A YOUNG FAMILY MEMBER.
...thank you.
Humans die so easily, too,
SOS: There was a guy who survived being shot in the face. And another who survived being shot in the head. And one who survived being run over by a train.
BB: ...And a guy who survived being CUT IN HALF. Though he did eventually die, he survived for a while.
SOS: And a guy who survived TWO ATOMIC BOMBS. Not to mention all the survivors of the holocaust, all soldiers...Humans became the dominant species for a REASON, and it's not just because we're fantastic at killing things.
BB: Precisely.
in their sleep, from tripping,
SOS: TRIPPING? Are the people you know made from wet tissue? I've never heard of a case of someone dying by TRIPPING.
BB: ....Um.........well. It wasn't exactly the tripping that killed them. They tripped and jammed themselves straight into a metal pole and THAT is what killed them.
SOS: Still, just saying, being killed by tripping alone would be somewhat unusual. It's not exactly a common cause of death.
BB: True.
from a tiny heart glitch, from a virus, from getting bumped a little too hard by a car.
BB: Ooh! Ooh! -Raises hand- I have two statements.
Meyer, you have just bit yourself in the ass.
You know how? "Tiny heart glitch" can reference ALL the times Bella's heart either stopped or sped up when Eddykins kissed her. You're saying she should have DIED there.
That made me laugh.
Now, for something far more serious. -SMACKS MEYER UPSIDE THE HEAD- ....My best friend died in a car accident while he was driving to my house to see me after I called him because I was freaked out that someone was in my home. He promised to be right over and told me to wait up for him. I never saw him again and the accident happened right at the intersection he needed to turn into so he could get to my house. I saw my best friend DIE, basically, and you are saying that was just "a little bump from a car."
Fuck. You. Bitch.
....okay, we may go on.
It’s sort of hard for an average vampire to take them seriously.
BB: Just like it's hard for me to take Meyerpires seriously.
SOS: Well, hey, your vampires die easily too. Throw a single spark into their eye or their mouth, and BOOM, they go up in flames. Are you giving me a free pass to rain destruction down on your vampires, because hey, they're so damned easy to kill?
BB: By default? Yes, she is. She doesn't realize she's written that, however. I LOVE pointing these things out.
They’re going to die soon anyway, right?
SOS: Hey, Meyer, you might die tomorrow! You don't know, you could be bumped a little too hard by a car! Does that make it okay for me to kill you?
BB: Now, now. We must not kill idiots. No matter how much we want to.
SOS: Meyer said it was okay, and Meyer said she was god.
BB: THEN WE MUST DO IT!
(I know it might be difficult to step away from a human perspective and see it through their eyes.
SOS: Yeah, people think murder is wrong because they're just looking at it from the wrong perspective, man.
BB: Oh, it's not difficult at ALL to look at a REAL Vampire's perspective. Try Louis de Pointe du Lac, from Interview With The Vampire. HE is an ACTUAL TORTURED SOUL!
SOS: The thing is, Meyer, your vampires don't start thinking this after centuries of experience, when they've become completely detached from humanity. They think this from the very moment they wake up, even though at the start of the week, they were still fucking HUMAN.
And what's more, I don't care if it's okay in THEIR culture to murder people. It's not okay in ours, and your target audience, Meyer, are HUMANS. Sure, I guess I can't blame the xenomorphs for killing the ship crew in Alien, but that doesn't mean they're not VILLAINS. That they're not the BAD GUYS. That I should be relieved when they're killed. Because murder will never EVER be morally right to your HUMAN audience. If the entire vampire culture makes it so that murder is okay, then murder doesn't magically become okay. It just means that entire society is WRONG.
BB: Again, I point out Louis. He STRUGGLED against his nature for CENTURIES! He ate RATS and DOGS and CHICKENS, and each time he took a human life (his maid, Claudia, Madeleine), it ended in DISASTER! The first one, his house burned down. The second, his SANITY BROKE. The third? HE WAS COMPLETELY BROKEN AND AT THE WHIM OF AN EVIL SADIST TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A SMALL CHILD!
The question is, is it really wrong for them to see the world that way?
SOS: Yes. It is. There is no question here, because the answer is definitive and unambiguous. Yes. It is.
BB: Yes. You know, some vampires DO think it's wrong. I point out Louis again - he FOUGHT and STRUGGLED to keep himself from eating humans while Lestat - the one who gave him the Dark Gift - just went about eating everyone he pleased! (Right now, I'm ignoring The Vampire Lestat. Just go with Interview.)
Vampires are at the very pinnacle of the food chain. Should they feel bad about that?
SOS: No, but they should feel bad for taking advantage of that for no reason other than hedonism.
BB: This one, I'm not torn about at all. They're at the "pinnacle" of the food chain, huh? So everything beneath them is food. Including ANIMALS. So why the fuck do they insist on going after the humans, except for pointless hedonism?!
SOS: If, say, cows suddenly gained sapience the next day and could prove without a doubt that they are capable of reflection and self-awareness and love, then I bet you that there will be groups springing up ALL over the place, protesting the eating of them, and humans are at the top of the food chain now. Just because you’re the dominant predator in the world, doesn’t mean you can get away with being conscienceless.
Or are they simply following the dictates of nature?)
BB: No, they're following their own arrogance as TEH GR8ESTEST EVAR!
SOS: Yes, they are, and that is despicable and WRONG. They are proving themselves to be little more than animals who are ruled by their base instincts.
Humans have a nature. Technically, all males should leave their neighbourhoods to go to a new one, and then slaughter all the males there and rape the females. But we don't do that. That is illegal. Why? Because we have enough intelligence to realise that it's wrong, and enough strength to overcome that instinct and be better people.
But your vampires CAN'T. They don't have the insight to see why murder is wrong. They don't have the strength to refrain from doing it. They don't have ANYTHING. They are WEAK.
And by your own argument, that means I am one hundred percent justified in killing them because they are weaker and dumber than me and little more than an ANIMAL.
BB: Exceptionally weak. They have no humanity, which instantly puts them at the lowest rung of the ladder - no humanity, no real sense of the flight or fight instinct, NOTHING. They're more of a hindrance to any kind of society, no matter what you say. They are WORTHLESS and DO NOT BELONG.
The Cullens struggle to reject that viewpoint.
BB: HAHAHAHAHAHHA.THEY EMBODY IT.
SOS: That is why they sneer and condescend at humans and make sure to remind the readers every second sentence that they are SO much better than humanity, yes. That makes perfect sense.
BB: Also, I want to point out something. They "struggle." And yet, Meyer keeps insisting that the Cullens already have mastery over everything. Has Meyer just said her pwecious widdle Cuwwens awen't PUWFECT?
SOS: Yep, she said in the very beginning of this section that the Cullens do NOT look down on humans, and yet here says that they struggle to not look down on humans--implying that they haven't succeeded yet.
Meyer, you're not fallible. You're failtastic. There's a difference.
BB: I'm still laughing over this. It makes me smile inside to see a Suethor spork their own damn work even though I know they DON'T FUCKING GET IT.
They work (and it is work)
BB: How? ......explain it. HOW?
SOS: No, it's not. When I see stories about abused animals, I am filled with sympathy for them and get upset as a result, and I haven't even ever been an animal.
It is not hard to be compassionate. It is not hard to be sympathetic of those weaker than you.
BB: No, it is not. Unless you have no emotions. Like, oh, a sociopath or a psychopath. Like this guy! Ted Bundy.
You know, he once said he felt like a vampire. That's a direct quote from him, by the way. It made number two on TOP SERIAL KILLER QUOTES.
Are they arrogant about it? Some all of them, at times all the time.
BB: Fixed that for you.
SOS: Even if it was only some of them, and only at times, that still makes your vampires PSYCHOPATHS. Because I am not arrogant that I feel sympathy towards those less fortunate than me. I am not PROUD that I feel bad for people who are suffering. Because this is the NORM. I’d be SCARED if I was suddenly incapable of basic compassion like that!
As it has been argued already, maybe you would start to feel a bit superior, too, if you were smarter and faster and stronger than everyone around you
SOS: I may be proud of, say, my academic achievements. I may gloat a little when I get the top mark in my class. But guess what? I don't go ahead and slaughter everyone in my class because they got a lower mark than me.
And most of the time, I don't even feel "superior" about it. Because I know that there's always someone better, and that there's always room for improvement.
BB: ...I'm the strongest of all of my friends, Meyer. I don't care about that - I care if I'm strong enough to do my damn job, which is worse than my friends' jobs. What does this say? I don't care if I'm "superior" to them; I care if I can do something.
(let alone intimately aware of all their petty thoughts).
BB: ........ -Sigh- Okay, Meyer? Where do you get off TALKING DOWN TO PEOPLE LIKE THIS? Where do you get off making these broad generalizations?
SOS: If I knew someone's thoughts, if I knew all their dreams and aspirations and hopes and relations, and what they do with their friends on the weekend and how much they dote on their cat, and what their mothers got them on their birthday...I think it'd be HARDER to kill them, not EASIER. Even if I only saw the bad parts, if I knew someone's insecurities and fears and traumas, that'd still make it HARDER to kill them.
Most humans I know who are great athletes or geniuses have a strong streak of arrogance in their personality
SOS: They also tend not to be mass-murderers. No matter how great you are as an athlete or genius, society still DOES NOT approve when you commit MASS FUCKING MURDER, and we WILL condemn you for it.
BB: Heck, I can be arrogant, too. I know I'm good at things I do - knife throwing, for example. I can boast and brag about that. But, guess what? THERE'S ALWAYS SOMEONE BETTER.
(men in particular-sorry, boys, but it’s true).
BB: .... You fucking bitch, don't you DARE start your sexist crap. You do it enough in your books!
SOS: No, it's not. No gender is more prone to narcissism than the other. You are still a generalising, sexist whore.
I WILL NOT APOLOGISE FOR THAT, DAMMIT. SHE STARTED IT.
BB: Go ahead and say it! I'm all for it. BECAUSE, AS PREVIOUSLY STATED, I CAN BE ARROGANT. Guess what? I TRY NOT TO BE! I don't WANT to be an arrogant asshole! So this blows that damn generalization out of the water yet again. Meyer, any time you feel like stopping will be GREAT.
It seems hard to avoid.
BB: Not really. You can keep your mouth shut about things because you don't want to hurt feelings. Or you can say YOU need to get better.
SOS: I don't know if she even knows what this says about her. That she can't comprehend anyone who would not think of the people around them as barely human as soon as they proved themselves superior. Really, she's making herself sound like the most repulsive person to ever live.
BB: She wasn't that already?
SOS: Most people at least TRY to make themselves look good. She's not even trying. She's just coming out and saying that yeah, if she proved she were smarter and stronger than you are, she'd totally kill your ass.
BB: Smarter and stronger, you say? Yeah, that means shit if she doesn't have the damn talent and drive to prove it. -Grabs one of his knives- Ready when you are, Mrs. Meyer.
But Edward isn’t arrogant all the time.
SOS: ONE. Show me ONE sentence where he isn't being an arrogant, self-centred asshole. I just want ONE.
BB: ..............-LAUGHS HIMSELF to DEATH-
-Is dead, can show nothing-
When something takes him by surprise, like the silence of Bella’s mind and her unpredictable behavior, he is quite humbled by that,
BB: -Comes back to life just to laugh more-
SOS: No, you made it pretty clear yourself. He was enraged and immediately demanded that she tell him everything she thinks, because he's entitled to her thoughts. In other words, he was an arrogant, self-centred asshole.
Your argument is invalid.
BB: I'm still laughing at the thought of Bella being unpredictable.
and embarrassed for his unfounded arrogance and wrong assumptions.
SOS: Well, good job showing that! It doesn't matter what you tell us now, because we SAW how Edward reacted in canon.
BB: Show me this and I'll bite my tongue.
SOS: He was annoyed and angry and he immediately started dictating what Bella is and is not allowed to think. That is not fucking embarrassment. That is being an entitlement whore.
BB: And a controlling boyfriend.
You know, this reminds me of my ex. He used to tell me I couldn't think my friends were nice people, all because they liked cuddling up to me and helping me when he tried to pressure me into sex.
There is a REASON he is my EX.
Edward spends plenty of time wallowing in insecurity.
SOS: Yeah, he does. Then he goes out and buys a huge, flashy motorcycle so he can feel better about his penis.
BB: Or a quarter-of-a-million dollar car. Or he buys BELLA this stuff to prove to himself that, yes, his cock is huge. Just like his counterpart, Gaston.
It’s just that Bella doesn’t see that side of him
BB: NO ONE DOES. IT DOESN'T EXIST!
SOS: I don’t see that side of him either, and I’ve read Midnight Sun! I’ve seen inside his own head!
(even when it’s in evidence, she misreads it
SOS: HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN MIDNIGHT SUN, THEN?
We saw plenty of Edward's thoughts in that book, and none of them can be described as "insecure". When he thinks Bella might be getting closer to another boy, he doesn't question himself or feel inadequate. He immediately starts planning on how to KILL that boy. That's not insecurity. That's PSYCHOPATHY.
BB: Y'know, this reminds me of Bundy again. His girlfriend in college broke up with him and he later on started killing women who looked like her and.....
.......
....Holy shit.
I just remembered.
Bundy's type of women to kill?
.....Brown haired, pale girls.
I....Meyer.
When your killers remind me of serial killers I've studied for most of my life?
IT'S NOT GOOD!
SOS: Meyer, your hybristophilia is showing.
-because she can’t imagine Edward having any reason to feel insecure)
SOS: Yeah, I can't imagine something as tiny as Edward's dick either.
BB: Bella can't imagine anything. She has no brain. No mind. She has no creativity. If she ever imagined something, I'd be shocked.
SOS: And darling, you just said that Bella? Does not fucking know Edward. Has no idea about what is supposed to be a HUGE part of his character. She never learns this, even after they're married. And I can tell you why.
Because she never thinks about Edward.
She never considers his beliefs, his likes and dislikes, his philosophy, his perspective. It's all about what she sees and what she thinks and what she feels.
And this is what you think is LOVE.
Do you have ANY idea how sad that is?
BB: If this is love, kill me. I don't want to be in a world that believes this shit could ever be love. I don't want hearts and friggin' flowers, but c'mon!
so, neither do we.
SOS: It's not that hard to show the readers something your unreliable narrator doesn't see.
BB: Yes, because Bella's POV is the only thing you can write in. Jacob's POV? Wardo's? They're all the EXACT SAME THING AND SHE DOESN'T GET THIS! -BASHES AT THE WALLS WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER-
SOS: Or just look at The Darkest Hour. When Edward first meets James, he thought James would make a fantastic friend and companion. And yet the readers knew almost from the first second that this is not going to end well, and James is a horrible person, and they are NOT compatible.
BB: Ah, TDH. -Smiles- It's nice to hear about good literature at a time like this.
We know nothing about what Edward or the others are thinking unless they speak it aloud.
SOS: Or, you know, SHOW with their actions. Insecure people behave in a certain way, and Edward is NOT fucking insecure. You don't need to say your thoughts out loud for people to get them. 70% of communication is non-verbal!
BB: Yes, seventy percent is. I want to use an example in Freddy Krueger.
When we first see him, he barely speaks. But when he walks toward Tina Grey, you fucking KNOW he doesn't want to give her hearts and flowers and a big ol' smooch on the cheek.
And it's all in his damned WALK. We get that solely from his WALK.
Just because they haven’t said it to Bella, doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking about it.)
BB: Meyer, do you honestly not see this?
SOS: Again, I want to bring up The Darkest Hour. When we first see James, even though Edward has no idea, I still immediately realised that he's only sticking around Edward in order to USE him. In order to use his safehold and his ability to evade the Imperials.
Back to the Cullens. They try very hard to not lose their sensitivity to the value of human life.
SOS: That's why Alice needs to remind Jasper to think of humans as people in Midnight Sun.
BB: I have no words beyond the Cullens are idiots, and so is their creator.
Carlisle is the best at it.
BB: Oh, yes, the way he basically lets everyone who he KNOWS will kill humans reside in his home and go out to hunt at any time.
SOS: That is why he stands aside and does NOTHING when the Volturi tempt him with bleeding humans. That's why he can watch a person slowly die in agony and not feel a goddamned thing except self-satisfaction, I see.
Perhaps surprisingly, Rosalie is next best.
SOS: What's so surprising about that? What, is it that because she's blond, she must be inferior?
BB: The sad thing is? That's probably it.
Well, that, and the fact that she ZOMG KILLED HUMANS!
SOS: *Dryly* I doubt Meyer cares about THAT part.
Why do they try? The answer is different for all of them.
SOS: I think the answer for why most people don't commit murder is the same. BECAUSE MURDER IS WRONG. What other reason do you need?
BB: None. That convinced me.
Carlisle has faith.
SOS: It is pleasing in the eyes of the Lord to let people die and not do a thing to help.
BB: Maybe to Leviastiel. And you want to know something about Leviastiel, Meyer? ...........HE IS FUCKING INSANE! And he exploded.
He thinks he can keep his soul if he lives the best he can.
SOS: In other words, he doesn't murder because it benefits him personally. Because he can get something out of it. If God came down from above and told him that he'd be damned either way, he'd have no trouble going on murder sprees.
It's all about what HE can get out of it.
Esme has love.
BB: That she only shows when it benefits her.
SOS: Yeah, she loved Edward so much she's okay with an innocent girl DYING, just to make sure he wasn't gay.
BB: Of course, 'cause being gay is TEH EBILS!
Her heart is so open, that she loves humans easily.
BB: ......Yes, as specified when she told Edward he could eat Bella.
SOS: It doesn't require a special gift to love humanity, you know. And you don't necessarily have to love humanity in order to refrain from murder. And most of all, you just said there that NONE of your other vampires love humanity. Not Edward, not Carlisle, not Bella. And yet the Cullens do not look down on humanity, and reject the viewpoint that they are inferior, and value human life, I see.
BB: ....Have I ever mentioned Meyerpires make my head hurt?
Alice is a fatalist. She knows her own future, and she follows it.
BB: Meaning she does everything to make sure she's never wrong.
SOS: THERE. Meyer just admitted it! As soon as she saw a vision of her killing people, she wouldn't even hesitate. She'd go ahead and do it! And she STILL doesn't see what's wrong with this!
BB: How can one person be so stupid? Seriously. How? Someone, explain this to me. HOW can she NOT SEE THIS? It's right in front of her!
Carlisle is Edward’s hero, and Edward wants to be like him.
SOS: Yeah, that is why he went away for a few years and KILLED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE.
BB: ....Still under that delusion, hmm?
SOS: She's not even delusional! She's saying everything the antis have been pointing out! That Edward refrains from murder only because Carlisle would disapprove, and Alice just goes along with her visions! And yet she's STILL completely missing the point!
BB: I believe Meyer lost her mind. Was she dropped on her head as a child?
Also, Edward is a family man at heart,
BB: ....-LAUGHS TO DEATH AGAIN-
SOS: That is why he'll demand his family bend backwards to accommodate his every whim, or he’ll throw a gigantic tantrum.
BB: -Brings self back to life- Oh, no, SOS, he IS a family man, don't you see? He's The Man, just like back in the days when women couldn't vote and couldn't hold jobs!
and he knows that vampires who drink human blood do not have families as a general rule.
SOS: Which, by the way, makes no fucking sense.
And you've made it clear yourself that even if Edward drank human blood, Carlisle and Esme would still keep him around and dote on him and just be mildly disapproving. That's what they do EVERYTIME one of their children "slip"
BB: Yup. They's scold him for a half a millisecond and then say "But we love you still!"
Emmett’s reason is similar to Edward,
SOS: That is why Meyer must never write Emmett. She'll ruin EVERYTHING.
BB: She already tried. After all, she wanted him to be the unlikable Frat Boy we're supposed to look down on because he's slipped.
SOS: Which tells me nothing because ESME slipped too. EVERY Cullen EVER slipped.
he takes nothing as seriously,
BB: Thank God for that - I like Emmett as rather laid-back. At least HE uses his time to think and MAKE ACTUAL PLANS.
SOS: Meyer, there is a POINT where ANY cool and happy-go-lucky character starts taking things seriously, and murder is one of them.
and Rosalie is the one he worships.
SOS: See what I mean? Meyer has MASTERED the art of ruining good characters!
BB: Yup, because she basically just said that Emmett thinks of nothing but Rosalie. Even though he was the ONLY ONE to think up a plan for what to do with James. THE ONLY ONE!
(Rosalie and Jasper have their reasons as well. You don’t know them yet.)
SOS: Rosalie because she doesn't feel the need to revenge anyone anymore, and Jasper because Alice won't put out if he did. They are still not good reasons, Meyer.
BB: Not at all. You know, it's at times like this I want to smack Meyer.
Go forward to: Part 2