Alice: Hyperactive Shopaholic, or ... ?

Singing: "Go Ask Alice..When She's Ten Feet Tall..." by Jefferson Airplane.

... but not in front of Alice (née Mary Alice Brandon ... hm, I wonder if her father is a Colonel?). Ma chère cousine (which is French for «ma chère cousine») named Michele will happily shred anyone who sings "Michele, ma belle" to her, as she's heard it probably more than you ever will in your existence ... even if you are a vampire. So, I'm sure Alice has heard "Go Ask Alice", too. No sense antagonizing the one and only vampire that is pivotal to the success of each of the four books of the Twilight series.

I think, like for Rosalie, and like for Emmett, much, in fact, most, of the community has missed the boat on her. Most of the fan fiction out there portrays Alice as a hyperactive shopaholic. But how many times in the actual books did Alice go shopping? Once? Maybe even twice? Name the times she went shopping, dragging Bella from place to place.

Can you do it? I don't think anyone can. But there's the image of the hyperactive shopaholic that everybody attributes to their image of Alice.

I don't buy it.

One of the best pieces of fan fiction in the world is called "You've kept me waiting" by the author Mandi1. You cannot read it online, because the real mandi1 has disappeared along with her stories (and now she's back. Yay!)

Dammit! (I did make a copy locally of this story and her "The Real C.J.Rae" which still hasn't been republished. Boo!)

That story does do a good job of portraying her true to her own voice. Wise. So wise, in fact, that she sees all the world's sadness, and all of her own sadness, and refuses to succumb to it. She refuses to let joy submit to bleakness. She sees the bleakness in the world, with eyes wide open, and smiles and manufactures joy, even when it's so hard to do.

I think Alice does get Bella. I think she gets Bella more than most people, and I think Alice sees that Bella does not need someone else to cry in her beer with (well, because, firstly, Bella is underage and so her own dad would have to throw her in the clink, and, secondly, vampires don't drink ... well, vampires don't drink beer, that is), and I think she sees Bella as a person who also does not need another person's set of problems thrown all over her — just as Edward and Jacob decide to do to her.

"Oh, look, there's a cute, suffer in silence, girl. Lemme just dump all over her so she falls in love with me!"

No. Alice works hard to be chipper, so Bella gets a break once and a while and can smile. And when Bella refuses to go with the happy game plan?

Alice, menacingly: "Bella, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way." Eclipse, wedding plan discussion.

DO NOT MESS WITH ALICE.

How many vampires kidnap Bella? One: Alice. And in a yellow porsche, no less.

DITTO on the non-messing-with-age.

And speaking of a (stolen) yellow porsche: who was it to cause Dimitri and Felix to back down? Not Edward. Alice. (NM, Volterra). Jasper could beat or hold his own against every vampire except one. Which one? Alice.

Bella and Angela may connect in a way that two tuning forks do. Ping one and the other one vibrates in sympathy. But Alice? She knows sadness, she has lived sadness, and she rejects it. For Alice, she refuses to allow Bella to wallow in heart-ache. Absolutely refuses this for her Bella, her best friend, and absolutely refuses any other ending that the happy one.

Remember, the tide only turned in the stand off with the Volturi because of Alice's determined and concerted effort throughout the entire preceding part of Book III in BD.

Alice. Hyperactive shopaholic? Sure! That's a nice, easy, facile façade for everyone to believe, and she works harder to maintain that image than anyone else in the world, just so that the ending is a happy one, and that all eyes are not looking at the ballerinesque busy-bee in the background, but the White Queen and her knight in shining armor in the fore.

... AND she gets the yellow porsche, and that's a nice bonus ...

"Go ask Alice ... when she's ten feet tall ..." Indeed!

-----

So, now I've written myself into a corner. Don't you see? Because when Alice shows up in one of my stories, what am I going to do? How will I write her as Steph writes her: seeing the futures, but not deus ex machina, aware of sadness, but fiercely (but not forcefully) cheerfully happy, and short, sweet, and absolutely the most dangerous and unstoppable vampire in the world ...

I just don't know right now. So your prayers for me in this matter are gratefully appreciated.

-----

Postlude

Okay, I'll take this as an answered prayer. Eowyn77 wrote a story called Bright Ideas that cut right to the chase, balancing the determination of Alice with her sweetness, her sprightliness with her wisdom, and finally representing her gift realistically: powerful but not deus ex machina.

I'll take this answer in gratitude. You should, too! Read this story, it'll do you a world of good for your understanding of our Alice.

Rose is Red?

I've been thinking a lot — a lot! — about a certain beautiful young lady named after a flower. No, not Chrysanthemum, although she, too, is a beautiful young lady. Who I had in mind prefers Chanel to flannel, but that doesn't stop her from being a tree hugger.

Roses are Red,
Her eyes were Blue,
But one thing you don't want:
Her, mad at you.

Now, it's canon that Rosalie likes to wear red. After all, she clears the dance floor at Prom wearing that backless velvet gown. In which color? Red.

Either that, or she's also favoring clothes of the whitest of snow in colour these days. Snow White as in: "who's the fairest of them all?" The answer to that query, obviously, is Rosalie. The mirror-mirror-on-the-wall was wrong, wrong, wrong!

Blood red or purest white. That's our Rosalie: fire and ice. And to think: those names were for the witch twins, Jane and Alec. Certainly they may have those abilities (although Jane may meet competition for the 'Fire' moniker from a certain extremely powerfully gifted vampire, Rhee, Lady Didyme's handmaid ... oh, no! not another story idea), but when it comes to the power of Rosalie's presence, the aptness of their designations falls into question.

So, Rosalie and Red go together. Or, do they? Golden hair? Golden eyes? Pale white skin?



[image created by fanfiction author/artist Roonie]

Rosalie is rather decided on her ways and her views. She likes red, she's going to wear red, and she's going to make the red look good on her. Red will know it's fortunate to be chosen by Rosalie.

But, let's say, "for argument's sake", that Rose has, erhm, a 'friend', a sort-of, well, 'sister', you might say. And this friend/sister is not a push-over herself, and Rosalie and her sister of the heart are in Washington, D.C. or NYC or Philly, or Paris or London (which, in the earlier part of the last century was a fashion mecca, don't you know ... it is also rather helpful that London can be a bit foggy at times ...) and they pass by a shop window and see the following:



Now these are spring/summer cocktail dresses; Rosalie prefers them full-length, but it shouldn't take too much convincing or arm-twisting on the part of her sister (which is a very good thing in her case, she could get hurt either attempting to twist Rosalie's arm or having her arm twisted by Rosalie) to have a full-length version of the Diane von Furstenberb Eliza dress tailor made for her.



And, as the print is the "Vienna Map", they would have the added advantage of not needing to stop to ask for directions in a certain Old World city.

Just imagine Rosalie wearing that ensemble, walking arm-in-arm with her dear sister. I know it's an anachronism, but I can just hear her humming a few bars from The Association song:

Who's peekin' out from under a stairway
Calling a name that's lighter than air
Who's bending down to give me a rainbow
Everyone knows it's Rosalie

Who's tripping down the streets of the city
Smilin' at everybody she sees
Who's reachin' out to capture a moment
Everyone knows it's Rosalie

And Rosie has stor-my eyes
That flash at the sound of lies
And Rosie has wings to fly
Above the clouds (above the clouds)
Above the clouds (above the clouds)

Stormy eyes, indeed! She would give new force to the phrase: "Drop dead gorgeous" as the multiple traffic accidents causes by motorists unable to keep their eyes off her (and on the road), and other pedestrians having their hearts ripped out by jealous spouses ("Well, dear, you said your heart was mine, so now I'm collecting ..."). Jealousy may not be limited to spouses; Rosalie's 'sister' can be a mite touchy when it comes to other people giving her Rose looks.

"Roses are Red"? Heavens, no! This rose is yellow, and not just in Texas, but anywhere she wants to be.

... and, as long as that anywhere is with family, then that anywhere can be anywhere, be it in the hinterlands of the Midwestern part of the United States, or in Castle Volterra. She is, after all, a Hale, and with family, everything will be just fine.

In fact, everything will be coming up, well, roses.

To Emmett

I've been thinking a good deal recently about Rosalie. Carlisle turned her, originally, so that Edward would have a companion, just as he has his Esme. Rosalie and Edward, as a couple did not work out ... to put it mildly. Why? Because Rosalie and Edward are Janus: two sides of the same coin; so alike that they can't stand the sight of each other.

Now, can two people who are very much alike make a relationship, make love, work? Of course. Did Edward and Rosalie? Of course not. Rosalie found and then chose Emmett (and he, her), and Edward found and then chose Bella (and she, him).

Now I argue that Bella, despite noises from some disgruntled quarters, is one of the strongest characters in the series. Eventually she has the strength and powers to back up her will and determination.

The same argument can be put forward for Emmett. He is not just a character that exists simply to supply a pairing to Rosalie. Steph chose her characters well, and each had their own well-defined personality and history. That Emmett did not go crowing about his past, or trumpeting his achievements does not mean he doesn't have them to boast (or, in Edward's case, to lament). A quiet character has character. It just requires effort to uncover it, and then to revel in it.

I have.

My admiration of Emmett is boundless. He is the strongest character in the Twilight series, but I'm not talking about physical strength. That he is constantly untroubled by Rosalie, that he actually enjoys her company, that he delights in her tantrums and hissy fits? That he lets her be her all the while not being stepped on by her or hiding behind or under her skirt?

You know that Emmett is as smart as all the other Cullens and Hales. How come you never hear about it? It's because he doesn't measure his worth by his intellect. If I was one tenth the man Emmett is, I'd be twice the man I am now. I think the world needs more big tough teddy bear guys that like to laugh and only have eyes for their own girl.

But that's just me. How about you? Do your own digging into Emmett's character. You may be delighted with what you find.

-----

The title of this post indirectly refers to the poem by Edgar Allen Poe, "To Helen". I do not have a source, but I recall some calling this poem the perfect representation of a poem in the classical style.

A Rose by a Lemon tree

Writing chapter 24 of MSR ("My Sister Rosalie"), and, in it, a special garden temple is described. Sorry, I don't have the picture of the temple for you, as it exists currently as an image only in my head ... when I have the money to spare, I'll build it and take a picture of that for you to see.

But I do have a picture of the centerpiece. A pink rose. Bella's rose. Bella's Rosalie.



Lovely, isn't it?

Do something special for your sweetie today: get her a rose and tell her you love her.

-----

This post is dedicated to little Evie Grace on the occasion of her second birthday. Roonie, her mother and a reviewer of MSR, asked for something special, Rosalie is special to me, so I hope Evie Grace likes her rose.

Which team: Edward or Jacob?

Spoiler warning: if you haven't yet read Breaking Dawn, go read that before reading this post. That is, of course, after having read, in order, Twilight/Midnight Sun, New Moon, and then Eclipse.

Finished that homework? Good. Then read on.

I've recently returned from a New Year's Day party where the tween boys were rather surprised that I knew who "Master Chief" was. "Ya know," they told me knowingly, "He's like the main character of this video game and ..." My cara spoza interrupted them: "Ask him how many versions of the Halo game my husband has." This got them started.

Them: "What's your favorite weapon?"
Me: "Needler"
Them: "No way! What's your second favorite?"
Me: "Carbine"
Them: "No way! Is your favorite armor permutation the Hiyabusa?"
Me: "I play as an Elite."
Them: "Dude!"

But this is not a post about Halo, as this is a Twilight blog.

The teen girl had a further shock in store for her: after her parents proudly relayed that their daughter had read the books and seen the movie twice — my cara spoza could not resist here: "Just like my husband; he's also reading the books to me before bedtime." — the daughter suddenly found she had something in common with a 40-something-ish (Twilight-)Dad.

Me: "Team Edward or Team Jacob?"
Her: "Edward!"
Me: "Of course."
Her: "... and you?"
Me: "Team Leah."
Her: "Wow!"

The adults stood around watching me bond with the kids, and my wife chided that I spoke a secret language with them. I soothed her: "It's just a mid-life crisis, dear; next I'll be buying a little red miata."

Here their daughter jumped in: "Nonono! A yellow 911"
"Turbo!" I added.
"Just like Alice's!" she finished gleefully.

My cara spoza rolled her eyes.

The material point of this post — although I have successfully obscured it with `pataphor — is that I see the concept of the splintering of the Twilight community into Teams Edward and Jacob now to be antiquated with the release of Breaking Dawn. After all, that dilemma has been resolved: Bella got Edward, and Jacob got Renesmee. They both won.

If, after one has completed the reading of the Twilight series, and, after one has read every available piece of information off of Steph's site — and who hasn't? — then one may have gleaned that she's considering, after her other numerous projects, including in some century the completion of Midnight Sun (save it! save it!), continuing the Twilight universe from another perspective. Perhaps either from Renesmee's or from Leah's.

This, my dear brothers and sisters (okay, mostly sisters), is now where the battle lines have been drawn.

Now, I love Renesmee. I love her more than Jake does. Heck, Rosalie loves Renesmee, so what's not to love? Q.E.D. [Actually, I have a secret fondness for that heartbreaking vengeful cicatrix, but please don't let that be widely known.]

But one must admit, dramatically, that Renesmee leaves much to be desired. She is perfect-perfect-perfect like how Bella thinks Edward is, but she also lacks her father's self-loathing that drew out the Twilight series to four books (instead of just the two).

Rant.

Kayso, I'm no Edward, and I know I'm nothing to MRFE (why does the urban dictionary not have "My Reason For Existence" listed as an acronym?), but that doesn't mean I get all emo and leave my cara spoza to be eaten by every little vamp that comes by looking for a snack. When she says, "I love you." I'm not all like: "Oh, the miserable creature that I am, I don't deserve you, blahblahblah." I say "I love you" back and work to deserve it, even if I don't.

Edward! Bella says she loves you. Listen to her! Don't leave her, you big jerk!

End rant.

Jeez!

... sorry about that. I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to get carried away.

So, anyway, Renesmee's awesome, but it would take quite a few contrived plot devices to make a compelling story for her. Jake loves her, she loves Jake. The End. That's an eight-word story, anything else, including everything I've read in the fan-fiction scene is either pure filler or pure bullocks.

Please prove me wrong with counter-examples. Steph, you can step in any time you'd like ... and when you do, I'll write "I'm so sorry!" an infinite number of times. Here, I'll start working on that right now, in anticipation of your next Twilight 4-book trilogy [Hey, the Hitchhiker's Guide had a 5-book trilogy!]:

10 PRINT "I'm so sorry!"
20 GOTO 10
30 END

But, Leah's story? OML! [I AM Team Leah, after all! You won't catch me (un)dead writing "OME!" Nosiree!] One need simply look at her

to see the conflict there, nothing need be invented. All she needs to do is to take a road trip to get the fights started, for goodness sakes! But does she have the potential for the happily ever after? Oh, yes!

So, the battle lines are no longer between Team Edward and Team Jacob. That battle has already reached its victory, for both sides. But now the battle for Twilight's (not-too-distant, I hope) future is brewing between Team Renesmee and Team Leah. Renesmee's team suffers from too much sugar and spice and everything nice to make even a passably interesting story. No, the true battle is for and in Leah's heart. And, since Harry Clearwater's gone, here's one Dad, on the sidelines, cheering for his little girl to win this race.

Werewolves' colors

I've recently acquired the taste of reading and writing Twilight fan fiction. As a writer, I have looked for a compendium of various bits of information, including, particularly in this case, the colors of the werewolves' fur. I haven't found such a collection, so here's what I've gathered from my reading:

The color of the wolves depends on their spirit. In the Twilight series, the following wolves' colors are made explicit:

• Sam Uley, Alpha, La Push pack: black. Largest werewolf of the La Push pack until the time of Breaking Dawn (September 2006). Imprinted on Emily Young.


• Jacob Black, Beta or Second, La Push pack/Alpha, breakaway pack: russet brown. Rebelled against Sam's leadership of the La Push pack which eventuated his assuming the mantleship of leader of the breakaway pack. The breakaway pack was disparagingly known as the "Cullen's watch dogs", as they chose to protect the Cullen (vampire) family. Imprinted on Renesmee (Nessie) Carlie Cullen, a vampire/human hybrid, daughter of Edward Anthony Mason Cullen (vampire) and Isabella Marie Cullen, née Swan (human at the time of conception and birth).


• Paul (no given family name), La Push pack: silver. Given to lose his temper easily, causing him to phase easily and become uncontrollable in his wolf form.


• Quil Ateara, breakaway pack: chocolate brown. Imprinted on Claire (no given last name), a two-year-old girl. Eventually joined the breakaway pack.


• Embry Call, eventually joined the breakaway pack: grey, grey spots, a thinner werewolf than Quil.


• Leah Clearwater, Beta or second, breakaway pack: grey, smaller wolf. Prior to Sam's imprintation, Leah had a very serious relationship with him. First woman ever to become a werewolf. As becoming a werewolf causes a growth spurt from adolescence to full adulthood, and then freezes the person at approximately twenty-five years of age, Leah's monthly cycles have discontinued. These concerns have turned her into a bitter and spiteful member of the La Push pack and provided a strong impetus for her to join the breakaway pack.


• Seth Clearwater, breakaway pack: sand-colored fur. Immediately joined Jacob Black to form the breakaway pack. He has a happy-go-lucky personality, and because of his teamwork with Edward Cullen (vampire) in destroying the leadership of a newborn vampire army, has a paradoxically strong attachment to Edward, in particular, and the Cullens (a vampire family), in general. Werewolves and vampires are by nature the most virulent of enemies.


• Collin (no given family name), La Push pack: unknown color; one of the newest members of the La Push pack.


• Brady (no given family name), La Push pack: unknown color; one of the newest members of the La Push pack.


• Jared (no given family name), La Push pack: unknown color; one of the first to change after Sam did. Imprinted on a classmate, Kim (no given family name)

10 Things I Hate about the Twilight Movie

10. I hate that every day I go to see the movie, I must see the movie again right away. I have a life, you know: I don't have 4 hours and 4 minutes to spare for each day I see this thing, for crying out loud.
    
    And I hate that the movie is 3 hours too short — 2 hours and 2 minutes are not enough to convey the intensity and depth of Edward and Bella's (careful) courtship. I'd talk about the injustice of cutting the scenes in Twilight and Midnight Sun (draft on the author's site), but those are other hated reasons.
    
    Yes. I realize I'm holding the exact opposite positions in this reason. This is called creative use of irony — deal.


9. I hate that the movie stayed resolutely true to the spirit of the book, very true to the flow of the book, but did not have that saccharine worshipfulness that another first movie of a certain book series about paranormals involving (pre)teens and magic had.
   
   I also hate that this movie refused to stoop to the belief that movie goers are mindless cattle. It refused to explain every little detail like other blockbusters: "Look", it refused to explain in voice-over, "I'm a defenseless human girl leading what I know to be a vampire into a secluded forest patch so he can have his way with me. I'm putting myself in danger." Nope, no explanation. Or, that they kept the onion root cell division scene from the book nearly intact. It is at least a misdemeanor to mention not only the word "prophase" but also to follow it up with "metaphase" and "anaphase" is moving into felony territory. Also, I have always answered the statement "I have a question" with "1.77i" for the last twenty-five years (I always assume the asker's question is "What is the square root of negative π?"), so I have prior claim to the copyright.
   
   I hate the layering of every scene. Mega-blockbusters are supposed have only one camera angle: the close-up. But, no. Nearly every scene in this movie has important things transpiring between at least two major characters (with emotion and reaction in a subtle interplay) but then, out of focus, the minor characters are also communicating important thoughts and feelings and advancing the story and require strict attention to capture. Look, I'm only human, I can only concentrate on a few things at a time. Watching this movie is a strain to my complacency!
   
   I also hate that the minor characters are treated with respect and given time to develop — what? development of minor characters? — This is a mega-blockbuster: minor characters must be at most one-dimensional! Put it this way, if one were to role the additional material on James, Victoria and Laurent back into the book, there would be at least another 50 pages for us to read. And that's not a bad thing ...
   
   You may accuse me of listing more than one reason in this one reason, but I'm really not. It all boils down to my anger that this mega-blockbuster has the daring feel of an indie. Put contrapositively, this indie has the refined slickness of a mega-blockbuster. This movie takes the best of both sides of the tracks with an assured élan.
   
   Show-off.


8. I hate that the baseball game only showed 4 at bats. That game was so good I demand my 9 innings. No, that's not correct: I require the game be tied at 9 innings so that I could have my extra 5 innings for the tie-break, just as in the 2004 ALCS. — Yes, I went there.


7. I hate that some of the scenes in the movie were — deep breath — better than the book. Look, only Blade Runner is allowed to do that.
   
   To wit: the expanded relationship between Bella and Charlie, the expanded (long-distance) relationship between Renée and Bella, Bella's more creditable escape from Jasper and Alice into the arms of James, Esme acting as a more believable mother during the Cullen kitchen scene ("Clean this up, now."), or Bella hurting Charlie as she fled James ("Like what? Watch baseball on the flat screen and have steak and cobbler at the diner? That's you, Dad, it's not me." "Bella, I just got you back." "Yeah. If I don't leave now, I'm going to be stuck here, just like Mom." Darn it, I'm tearing up again just writing those lines!). Then there was the angst in the cafeteria: Eric's claim ("my girl, Bella"), then Mike's counterclaim ("your girl?") then Tyler's peck ("Sorry, Mike!") and Mike's ensuing chase, this scene played out rapid-fire and true to teenage kids in school, and, yes, better than the book's description of the boy's rivalry as glowering looks. The icing on the cake? Jessica: "Omygod!" Bubble-bubble, "this is, like, first grade all over again, and you're the shiny new toy!"
   
   I'm forgetting the other better scenes because it's been 12 hours since I last saw the movie. Stupid fading human memories. Now I have to take notes the next time I watch the movie.


6. I hate that they cut Emmett fighting the bear and the following discussion between Emmett and Edward about the ramifications and consequences of love. Go Team Emmett!
   
   I hate that they cut the Blood Typing chapter. There was no greater irony in Twilight/Midnight Sun that not only Bella reacted (badly) to the sight of blood, but that she was (impossibly) vampirically hyper-aware in every one of her senses to it.
   
   In fact, I hate that they cut anything. What? Didn't they have 150M USD to play with? We all know this movie had waaaaay more than 30M USD, because that amount of money is just the catering bill for mega-blockbusters flicks, like this one.


5. I hate that the movie didn't go AU ("Alternate Universe"). I so wanted to see Bella set Edward in his place two days sooner after his unpardonable behavior that first day at school in Biology and the administrative office. After all, what's the problem of gracefully ignoring the siren call of Bella's blood? Get over it, Edward, and show the girl some of that gentlemanly courtesy that you so pride yourself for.
   
   But then! I hate the lump in my throat when the confrontation did arrive the next week that all she could manage was an heartbreaking "You were gone." I blame you, Catherine Hardwicke: you cannot be human, for no human could make me believe so completely the strength of that devotion after Bella and Edward spent only one uncomfortable hour together a week before.


4. I hate that his movie was a "Chick Flick" in a real sense of the phrase: all the women were "strong, independent" women: Bella, not Jacob, was the sun around which every other, um, person circled. Gravity moves, indeed! Rosalie was sincere anger in the strength of her protectiveness of her family. Jessica was pure bubbly fun with just the right edge when it came to Mike. And Victoria, ah! Victoria, was the last to withdraw from the crouch and twice as dangerous, devious and menacing as all the other vampires on that baseball field put together.
   
   A chick flick that appeals to a Twilight Dad. That's just not fair.


3. I hate how Edward introduced himself with a confidence of a vampire over 100 years old: "Hello, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen. You must be Bella." However, at the same time his voice quavered with the uncertainty of the 17-year-old body in which he is forever trapped.
   
   And I hated how Bella responded with a gasp of an infatuated teenager but with the insight of timeless wisdom (that betrayed her true age(lessness)) to Edward's prying niceties: "You're asking me about the weather?"
   
   And I hated Edward's self-knowing smirk of a response — she caught me — "Yes, I guess I am."
   
   In fact, I hated that whole exchange, how that Edward so desperately was trying to figure Bella out only to be confounded and befuddled by Bella's insights into his character. "I'm sorry for being forward: I'm just trying to figure you out. You are very difficult person to read." "Hey," Bella interjected, "did you get contacts?" "No." "It's just that last week your eyes were black, and now they're a golden-brown color." Edward swallowing, "Yeah, its the florescence ..." making a hasty and embarrassed escape.
   
   I hated that it was so good.


2. I hate how that every scene made this movie Bella's: how we couldn't hear the thoughts that Edward read, but we knew that he could from his expressions that she saw, how the camera's focus, as was her focus, was on Edward when Mike was asking her to the prom, how the conflict of her pure impatient want warred with her desire to be a good girl to ease the pain of Edward's blood lust radiated from her body in expectation of her first kiss, how disappointment lanced from her angry eyes as she commanded Edward to follow her into the forest ("Not mentioning you were a vampire? — that's a rather big secret to keep from a friend, you know.") and how her courage facing the impending change turned to the shock of disappointment then tightly controlled fury when Edward placed a gentle, cautious, and hesitant kiss on her neck at prom, and how she instantly swallowed that fury to show him that she did love him and did forgive him enough ... for now.


1. I hate that now I am compelled to watch the movie again. Today. And that I am compelled to reread the Twilight/Midnight Sun story. Again. C'mon, people, I have a life ... and I have fanfiction to write. Jeez!